Kingdom hearts: Broken dreams
by bakatora16
Summary: A new group of keyblade weilders, from vastly different backgrounds, travel the worlds of anime to stop the heartless and nobody. But what exactly is their relationship to Sora and the gang? Friend or foe?
1. Darryl's awakening

A large, green luscious meadow held a multitude of people, all gathered in one spot. The azure sky smiled down upon the people, whom had been looking directly in front of them, at three figures. The one on the far left sat rather lazily upon a small throne. He had aqua colored hair with bangs that hung gracefully across his face, with strands hanging in both of his amethyst purple eyes, and the bridge of his nose. The bangs ended at the tip of his nose, and covered both his ears. For the most part, his hair was straight and flat, ending at his shoulders, where it hooks upwards slightly. His skin was a light brown color, as if he was bathed in dark caramel or milk chocolate. For clothing, the male wore a high collar, black sleeveless vest. It was tight, and form fitting to show off his physically fit physique, and was unzipped at the bottom to show his midriff and abdominal muscles. Overtop his vest, the male bore a cloak the color of freshly drawn blood, with a royal gold trim. The cloak was unzipped from the shoulders down, so that it appeared more like a superhero's cape. On the back of the cloak was a hood, which also had the gold trim as the rest of the cloak. Golden armor covered the male's left arm, from the bicep down to the knuckle. The palm of his armor was black, due to the layer of cloth separating the armor from his skin. On his shoulder, overtop his cloak stood a piece of golden armor, which extended outward a few inches away from his body. His right arm was uncovered, with the exception of black, fingerless gloves which started at his wrist. He also wore raven colored pants, with two crimson loops hanging off the back, remnant of overall straps. A snow colored belt, with a night colored skull shaped belt buckle held his pants up. The male had been tapping his foot on the ground, causing his black and white shoes to become a blur of color.

The throne next to him was occupied by a man, whom sat rather proud. Aside from a darker skin color, and snowy white hair, the male looked almost exactly like the younger one beside him. The older man had a few wrinkles upon his face, and had ocean blue eyes, but other than that he was a split image of the younger man. Atop his head, he wore a golden crown, garnished with beautiful crimson rubies. His choice of clothing was an intrigue suit of golden armor, with a purple cape trailing behind it. The cape had fuzzy white trim behind him, and he held a silver and gold scepter in his right hand. The throne on the far right was occupied by a woman, whom was rather beautiful overall. Her ocean blue hair was held in a ponytail, and her purple eyes seemed to gleam with joy. She was somewhat lighter than the young man, which went well to balance out the older male's overall dark appearance. For clothing, she wore a modest purple dress, with a ruby directly at the top, serving as a button to keep her cleavage from slipping out. Like the older man, she too bore a crown atop her head, albeit smaller. Unlike the younger man, whom seemed bored and rather uninterested, the two adults were proud to be the center of attention. It appeared the older male had just finished a speech, as the large sum of people had their eyes glued on him.

"This is mind numbingly boring..." The younger male whispered, which was answered with a quick shush from the man next to him.

"Quiet, Prince Darryl." The man, presumed to be a King spoke.

"Yes, your majesty." Darryl was sure to put a rather sarcastic and over-emphases tone on the word majesty, in order to further convey his annoyance. Almost on cue with Darryl's fading tolerance, a black stretch limo pulled up behind the three. They rose from their seats, and gave their audience a large smile and wave, although Darryl's admittedly felt more forced and false than the King and Queen's. They then walked over to the limo, got inside, and pulled off and away from the crowd.

"Prince Darryl, you should be joyous in front of our subjects." As soon as they were a good distance away from the crowd, the Queen began to lecture Darryl.

"Will you stop calling me Prince Darryl, I'm your son." Darryl pointed out.

"You should be proud to be called Prince, regardless of who speaks that word. And what exactly is so wrong with being a prince? It gave you a rather extraordinary life." The Queen, Darryl's mom, spoke with a rather formal and eloquent tone, despite the fact that the person she was speaking to was her own son.

"Extraordinary?! I was kidnapped three times before I was six!" Darryl held up three fingers, in case his parents didn't grasp it by his words alone. "I had body guards following me around until I was fifteen! I'm only seventeen, and I'm the third most influential person in the entire world! Who the hell wants a life like that?!" Darryl lost control of himself, and became overly passionate while speaking to his parents.

"Enough!" The King finally spoke, instantly silencing Darryl. "You should be proud of your heritage. Do you know that before your grandfather became the first King of Lyxia, it was run by a dictator? He single handedly took him down, and started the tradition of King. And it was passed down to your grandfather, who passed the title down to me. Don't you see? One day, all of this land will be yours. It's what you were born to do." He patted his son on the shoulder, whom responded by sliding to the other side of the limo, so that he was face to face with his parents.

"That's bullshit and you know it, your majesty." Once again, Darryl over-emphases the word majesty, as he normally did when he was unhappy with his father. "You always claim so many people like the king, and while that may be true, he doesn't command nearly as much respect as you think. Even you are no exception, and if you were then I would have never been kidnapped now would I have been?" The King opened his mouth to respond, but Darryl raised his voice to cut him off. "And another thing..." He began. "I wasn't born to be a king. I don't even like politics. I'm not good at being royal like you. I don't even like people calling my eyes royal purple! Do you know what I'm good at?" Darryl then held out his right hand, and in a flash of light came forth a weapon. It was long and silver, appearing like a giant key. The handle of the weapon was plain black, and it had an orangish-yellow colored hilt. Darryl had summoned the Kingdom Key keyblade. "This is what I'm good at! Fighting! Defending people! Not sitting on my ass and sending other people to do it for me!"

"Put that thing away." No matter how angry he was, once his dad raised his voice, Darryl listened. He allowed the keyblade to vanish in a puff of light, and instead glared at his dad in silence. The remainder of the car ride was silent, until they reached a large palace. The three climbed out the limo, with the King and Queen walked towards the palace doors, and Darryl stomping off in the other direction.

"I hate this place." Darryl angrily muttered to himself. He had wondered into an empty meadow, with beautiful yellow flowers in the distance. The world of Lyxia was rather beautiful, filled with lush grass all year around, and flower patches every couple miles. It combined modern with rural, being almost completely void of any major stores or large buildings, which prevented the sky from being consumed by smog and chimney smoke. The people of Lyxia had cars, but most opted to walk instead of driving in them. As Darryl sat upon the grass in frustration, the ground suddenly grew several additional shadows, and little black creatures emerged from them. They appeared insectoid, with black antennae to match their stumpy black bodies. The only part of the creatures bodies that wasn't black, was their beady yellow eyes. "...At least I can work off some stress." Darryl summoned his Kingdom Key keyblade, and charged the creatures. The closest one to him was quickly dispatched with a three strike combo; a vertical strike, followed by a horizontal strike, and ending in a stab. The one behind that one was then taken out by Darryl sliding behind the creature, and piercing the back of its head. Both vanished in a puff of smoke. The remaining five creatures began to grow closer to Darryl, whom responded by gripping his keyblade tighter. Once he did however, the keyblade vanished. "Not again!"

The creatures surrounded Darryl, whom had been too preoccupied attempting to resummon his keyblade to notice. They tilted their heads curiously, and once they figured out that Darryl was defenseless, they lunged at once. "No!" He screamed, before squeezing his eyes shut, and all faded to black. The next thing Darryl knew, he was falling into what felt like an endless abyss of water. He could breathe however, so he assumed he wasn't in a physical body of water. His eyes slowly opened, and his eyes scanned the area. Below him, a platform of stained glass was prepared to catch him, and once Darryl noticed this he shifted his body weight so that he landed on his feet. Below, upon the stained glass, a boy with spiky brown hair had been etched on. He held a keyblade in his right hand, which was identical to the one he had been so furiously trying to summon. "This boy, his name is..." A female's voice began to speak the same name he had been. "...Sora."

Darryl jumped, startled at the voice which had no point of origin. "Who are you?" Darryl questioned aloud, hoping it would respond.

"I am everything and yet I am nothing. I am the keeper of the key." The voice spoke in tongues, which only further served to help confuse Darryl. The creatures from before began to appear however, which left Darryl with no time for questions. He attempted to summon the keyblade again, which was successful, but the weapon simply vanished immediately after appearing in his hands. "Why?! Why can't I summon the keyblade?!" Darryl resorted in running from the heartless, until he reached the opposite edge of the keyblade.

"Because it is not yours. But fret not, young one. The power that resides in your own heart is much greater than the borrowed power you've grown accustomed to. All you have to do is, trust in your own power." The voice spoke to the young prince, whom had been looking around searching for body to correspond with it, to no avail.

"Trust in my own power..." Darryl repeated the voice's words, closing his eyes and holding out his right hand. A stream of water appeared from no apparent place, and swirled around his arm before settling in the palm of his hand, where it mixed in with a bright light which had formed. A new keyblade now was held in Darryl's hand. It was rather big, nearly the size of his body, and yet Darryl could hold it with a single hand. It appeared to be made completely of crystals, giving it a nearly clear color minus a light blue tint. The crystals spiked outward and upward, growing fewer by the numbers the higher the blade went. The teeth part of the keyblade took the form of a silver crown, with six jewels arranged in a circle. From clockwise, starting at the top, the jewel colors were blue, yellow, black, reddish orange, white, and gray. Its handle was surrounded by the hilt, which took the form of two angel wings, and its keychain was an X. The keyblade made him think of the different routes he could go in life, and how every decision he had made so far made him into the person he was today. "The Forged Path." Darryl named his keyblade, and began to try it out by attacking the heartless. He slashed quickly, diagonally to take out the first heartless, which left a trail of water in the keyblade's wake. The second heartless was taken out along with two more, by Darryl spinning in a circle with his keyblade held outward. Instantly recovering from his spin, Darryl went into a rapid stabbing motion, which causing the remaining heartless to vanish in a puff of smoke. Darryl's battle style had changed significantly with the change of keyblade, with it now appearing like dancing water. Darryl's strikes were fast, and yet they all flowed together into one combo rather seamlessly. He then turned, and ran up the stairs to his left. Heartless began to form upon the stained glass, spiral staircase, and prepared themselves to face Darryl. In response, Darryl increased his speed a bit and began to slash through them. He slashed through two at once; by aiming a quick strike at their necks, then the next two with a rising slash. A third set of two was then taken out with a quick stabbing motion. The rest of the heartless backed off a bit, before regaining their nerve and attacking. With a few quick slashes of his keyblade however, these heartless faded away like the rest of their brethren.

Finally, Darryl reached the second platform, which seemed to be floating in midair above the first one. He released his keyblade, allowing it to vanish into thin air, and walked slowly to the center of the platform. As soon as Darryl reached the center, the ground began to shake and tremble. A large, black heartless emerged from the ground, with its menacing yellow eyes looking down upon Darryl. The creature, which easily was 30 feet tall, towered over Darryl. Its body was rather muscular, and had twin spikes shooting out from its back, and elongated fingers, which at this point were nearly touching Darryl. Darryl jumped back, while summoning his Forged Path keyblade in a swirl of water, and stood ready. His battle stance was more defensive orientated; his knees bent to allow a quick springing motion in any direction, his keyblade held in his right hand in front of his chest, with the point sticking straight out, and his armored left hand not far from his chest and face. His eyes scanned upward towards the large heartless' head. It appeared to be more humanoid than the ones he had been used to, lacking the rounded, bug-like face and antennae; possessing a more human structured skull, and black spikes of darkness atop its head. It swung its hand down, palm first, towards Darryl's head. Darryl jumped backwards to dodge the blow while simultaneously slashing, allowing him to sever one of the creature's fingers. It roared in anger as it spewed darkness from the wound, and then opened its mouth. A large orb of darkness began to form within it, and aimed straight at Darryl. Finally, the orb was released and sent hurtling at Darryl, much to his distress. "Trust in your own power…" The voice repeated in Darryl's mind, which allowed the young prince to calm himself. He faced the orb head-on with eyes filled with determination. With a fierce stab, Darryl planted his keyblade in the ground. The result of this action was a geyser of water surrounding Darryl and blocking the orb which so carelessly collided with it. Once the water and orb vanished, Darryl took off running before jumping into the air. He landed upon the heartless' arm, and used it as a spring board to soar into the air, up towards the creature's head. Before Darryl could reach, it swung a massive fist towards his left side. Darryl rapidly spun in a circle, while still in mid air, and an orb of ice consumed him. Once the hand ran into the orb, it shattered, but the extra layer of defense left Darryl unharmed. He then used the large shards of broken ice as platforms, jumping upon them as they fell to further his height in the air. Finally, he was able to reach the heartless' head level, standing upon its shoulder. He then unleashed a furious amount of blows, hitting the creature's head with a sixteen slash combo, and then immediately going into a stabbing frenzy. He then jumped up atop the creatures head, moving his keyblade in a crescent moon pattern. Once his keyblade reached above his head, the air began to grow cold.

"Let's finish with this!" Darryl jumped into the air, and swung his keyblade downward. "Frozen Requiem!" The creature was engulfed in icy water, which instantly froze the creature in its tracks. The creature instantly fell to pieces and disintegrated as Darryl landed back on the platform, leaving him alone in the darkness. The keyblade wielder dropped to one knee, while breathing heavily, allowing his breath to be seen due to the temperature drop. Directly in front of him however, a shinning white door appeared. Its presence was seductive; drawing Darryl to walk closer. He stopped at the doorway, and hesitated until the voice presented itself to him once more.

"Are you afraid, young one?"

"Of course not." Darryl instantly answered, allowing his keyblade to vanish.

"Then press forward. Your destiny awaits you through that door. And although you are saying goodbye to your previous life, you never truly belonged in the first place. So press forward young one, and accept your fate." Darryl said nothing, but stood motionless for a short time. He then changed his expression from fear and confusion, to steely determination and walked through the door. The next thing he knew, his surroundings had changed. He appeared to be in a town, due to the high rise buildings and crimson brick roads. People crowded the streets, which rudely bumped into Darryl with no apologies or even words. In fact, the people appeared to be so engrossed with pursuing sales and heading quickly towards the multitude of shops present, they probably didn't even notice Darryl standing there.

"Ilusia…" Somehow, the name of the new world he was presented at appeared in his mind. He then walked up, pushing his way through the people and crowds. Strange, white cat-like creatures stood at every shop door. Although he found them too weird out personally speak to one, he overheard one of the other shoppers referring to them as "moogles." They were cute, Darryl admitted to himself, but the thought of buying things from one unsettled him. He approached metal stairs, towards the Far East side of the town, and managed to climb aboard a light rail system. As soon as it took off, he found himself already at the next step. He climbed off and appreciated the second change of scenery. Overall, the buildings and roads looked the same, albeit the buildings were smaller and the roads were longer. A few people had been walking down the road, and returning to their homes. Overall, this area of Ilusia was quiet and calm, with next to no noise. A young child had wondered outside, and spotted Darryl while he was waiting for the next light rail to arrive, and waved his enthusiastically at him. He smiled, and returned the wave, before watching the mother come and drag the child back inside. Of course, she still managed to find the time to wave at Darryl. The people seemed friendly, at least in Darryl's opinion. He was tempted to walk down the stairs of the light rail system and chat, but as soon as he was ready to do so, the next tram arrived. "Next time..." He told himself, before boarding the light rail and heading to the next section of Ilusia. As soon as he stepped of the light rail, his ears were flooded by music of various varieties. It was a wonderful area, Darryl thought as he walked down the stairs. Four stages faced the same direction as Darryl; he had taken a point to notice. One to the upper left, seemed to be playing rock music, and currently a band had been wooing the crowd. The upper right stage played R&B and rap, Darryl determined due to a young woman dancing and swaying her hips to the beat on stage, while a young male stood behind her rapping. The woman then began singing once the man stopped rapping. The bottom right stage appeared to have a musical going on at the moment, as Darryl found himself able to glance at a woman acting out a scene where she was an orphan. Finally, the stage on the bottom left held a stage filled to the brim with figures in tuxedos and black dresses. Some were old, some were young, some were male, and some were female, but all of them held instruments. An orchestra had formed, and began their musical seduction on their audiences. The four stages were separated by walls, which had made it significantly harder for Darryl to see the stages to begin with, and he couldn't see the audiences at all. His attention was distracted however, by a man whom had just left the light rail and walked up next to him, pulled out a guitar, and began playing a beautiful melody. For the time being at least, Darryl decided he would sit next to the man and be swept away by his music.


	2. Thomas' Awakening

The night sky being illuminated by the lights of the skyscrapers, stars hardly being seen. Gas filling the air from the factories, brick and rusting steel is the aroma flowing around the city. A group of teenagers can be seen leaping from building to building using acrobatic skills that would normally be seen in a gymnast competition or in a circus act. The one leading the group had wild spiked black hair, his crimson red eyes seemed to glow in the darkness of the night, his skin was a brown tone, he wore a black jacket with his sleeves rolled up a white t-shirt underneath it, gold bands on his forearms, black jeans and, white and black high top sneakers. He seemed to be the leader of the group because he was ahead of the other three.

"Thomas, hey slow down!" A girl called out from behind him, she had white hair that went down to the middle of her back and seemed to flow into the night sky, she had the same complexion as Thomas, she had golden amber eyes, she wore a black tank-top with her hands taped up to her elbow's, a backpack, dark blue jeans with the legs cut off a little under her knees, and black sneakers.

"What is it Roxy?" He replied stopping near the edge of the rooftop they were on.

"What's the big rush?"

"No rush I just love to look at my city at night"

"Haha, this isn't your city Thomas."

"Bullshit! Blackout City is mine!" he said as he smiled and fell backwards off the building.

As he was falling he then did a back flip and grabbed onto a flagpole and began to swing on it, launching himself forward doing more flips then grabbed onto a ledge of the building closest to him and began to climb up it. Finally, reaching the top of the biggest skyscraper in the city he sat on the edge and stared out into the city. "God I love this place." He said to himself as the other three members of his group caught up to him, with Roxy leading the other two. One was a male, he was slightly taller than Thomas, he had a lighter complexion than him as well, he wore a red t-shirt with blue goggles hanging around his neck, his hair was short and messy with a couple strands hanging in his face, he had black jean shorts with a blue lining on them that hung low, with red and blue sneakers.

"Thomas we gotta hurry up."

"Don't rush me, Ralph" Thomas said as he continued to admire the city. Another girl stepped up; she had tanned complexion, with red short hair that covered the back of her neck and most of her hair covering her left eye, she had icy blue eyes, she wore a black vest with a purple t-shirt underneath, black jeans and purple shoes. She opened her mouth to speak before being cut off by Thomas "I don't want to hear it, Sandra." He said as he stood up.

The four stood at the edge of the skyscraper as Thomas held out his right hand in front of him, a flash of light came and a blade like weapon came into his hand, it was long and silver appearing like a giant key, the handle was black and had an orange tint to the hilt. It was the Kingdom Keyblade. "Ever since I got this thing, its power has seemed to fuel me, and I love it." Thomas said to himself as he admired the blade. "Let's go." He said as the four jumped off the building and landed on a window washer's cart hanging on the side. Roxy went into her backpack and pulled out to suction cups and placed them on the glass window, then began to cut a circle out of the window. She then pulled the circle out of the frame and the four climbed into the building, and the ground around them became black. Thomas knew what was happening. "You three, go! Finish the job!" He cried as the three ran off through the building.

Thomas then stood still as these insect like shadow creatures began to surround him, he then lifted his right hand and sent a vertical slash down on the first creature, then flipped over the other two and did a horizontal slash cutting them both in half. Thomas noticed one behind him, he dropped to the ground and did a sweep kick behind him knocking it into the air, he then threw the keyblade up and caught it with the tip of the blade facing its stomach, he then struck down piercing the creature on the ground. Just as more began to appear Thomas took a stance ready to fight again. His keyblade then disappeared. "What?!?" He cried out as he began flipping away from the black creatures, dodging their attacks, until he landed and was swallowed up by the darkness.

Falling into the darkness, Thomas opened his eyes. His crimson red eyes began to scan the area. Only seeing darkness, he then looked down and saw a platform underneath him. He continued to fall not being bothered by the darkness, as he got closer to the platform he saw a boy with silver hair that stopped at about his shoulders. Designed on to the platform made of stained glass, Thomas then landed. "This boy's name is Riku." A man's voice said. Thomas then balled his fists and looked around.

"Show yourself!" he demanded.

"Ahh but Thomas I am right in front of you, yet not anywhere near you. I am the keeper of the keyblade." The omni-present voice said.

"What happened to my keyblade? Why can't I summon it?" Thomas questioned the voice.

"Because that is not your keyblade, you have to look within yourself. Hmm when I look into you I see a lot of darkness."

"What the fuck? You're looking into me...Awkward." Thomas said as he closed his eyes and stuck his hand out again, red liquid swirls came around Thomas's hand and, then a light came and into his hand with a new keyblade. It was red and black, with the black part giving it a space distinction, showing stars as if you were looking at the night sky. Also with red spokes crossing and swirling around the main shaft of the blade. The hilt had tattered bandages on it with blood spots on them, the end of the blade was also black and red shaped like an 8 sided star cut down the middle with only four points showing. At the end of its chain was a golden star with a blood spot on it. The shadow creatures from before had began appearing on the platform again. "What are these by the way?"

"They are heartless. Now destroy them."

"With pleasure." Thomas said with a smirk, as he charged for the heartless in front of him, he threw his keyblade at the first two as it went spinning, leaving a design of how blood looks when it mixes with water in its wake, towards them and cut them in half. It came back to his hand like a boomerang. Thomas then did a back flip and landed behind them, slashing vertically sending them in the air where he did a 5-hit combo, with the 5th hit sending them towards the platform, where they disappeared.

Thomas then turned to see stairs appearing before him that seemed to float up to another platform above him. Thomas then began to walk up them. Reaching the top, darkness formed over the entire platform, and from it a giant heartless began to climb out of it. This one looked more human than the others. At least as big as the tallest skyscraper in Thomas's city, it had two antennas' that seemed to be brushed back behind its head, with four arms. "You've got to be shitting me." Thomas said as the giant heartless threw a punch towards where Thomas was standing, he threw his keyblade up in front of him and his left hand up as well forming an X over his face, his left hand began to glow with blue mirror shards around his hand, in a flash of light another keyblade came into his left hand. This one was blue, formed with stained glass all around it, with silver and purple hues on the glass. If you look close enough to the keyblade there's something different happening in each one of the shards of glass on it, almost as if the keyblade was telling a different story in each spot you looked, from water rippling to fires burning. The hilt of the blade is silver and the end of the blade has three blades. The middle blade is purple which whenever looked at would only show the reflection on how you view yourself, while the other two showed you visions of how you would be if you took that path. The heartless's fist was blocked by the key blades as Thomas went sliding back. He then began to push forward on the giant, black hand in front of him, then flipped onto it and began running across it heading for its head. He was then grabbed by the other hand of the heartless, it then took its left hand and began to try and crush Thomas, now struggling to escape. "STOP!" Thomas cried out as everything for a moment went into a negative color scheme then back to normal. To his surprise he was not being crushed anymore. Thomas then stabbed the heartless's hand and created a hole into it climbing down from it and landing back on the platform, the heartless was frozen. "Hmm I wonder." Thomas said as he closed his eyes looking into the power within himself. His eyes shot opened. He then slammed his keyblades into the ground, and began to create a barrier around himself and the giant heartless. Thomas's keyblades' began to surge with power, red and black lightning seemed to form around them. Thomas then jumped back and landed on the barrier behind him and used it as a spring and launched towards the heartless slashing straight through it. Thomas then began to ricochet off the walls of the barrier repeating this process several times, he then shot towards the heartless's head where he did a 16 hit combo on its head, then began to fall back towards the platform where did his body in the form of a cross and cried out "Pandora's Box!" As massive electrical wave shot out from his keyblades and obliterated the giant heartless.

The barrier disappeared and Thomas landed on the platform breathing heavily. "Congratulations, you're ready." The voice said as a glowing white door appeared in front of him. "Through that door is where your destiny will unfold." The voice said as Thomas stood up and walked through the door with a blinding white light. Once the light passed, Thomas appeared in a housing area.

"Ilusia," he said to himself. "That's the name of this place…but how did I know that?" He questioned but continued to walk through the district. He found a metal stair way which led to a light rail system to which he got onboard. This took Thomas to another part of town on the Westside. This part seemed to be a shopping district with lots of shops and floating animals with big pink noses as the owners, Thomas heard another person call them "moogles." Thomas continued through the town and came across another district, where music could be heard playing all over, walking through he could hear r&b being played, continuing on Thomas saw a theatre where a cast seemed to be performing a musical of some sorts. Thomas continued walking along a brick wall where he could hear some rock playing, liking what he heard he continued to walk. He made to another area where he heard some rap, Thomas began to bob his head but still pushed on to where he saw somebody playing guitar and saw a boy with aqua blue hair listening to him play the guitar. Thomas then decided to get sit on the other side of the man playing, walking by Thomas's crimson eyes locked with the blue hair boy's amethyst purple eyes, but he continued on to sit and listen to the music.


	3. Kim's Awakening

"You go out now", a slightly round, short woman said, her voice thick with years of smoking hookah with her male customers. She was dressed in a pink-red bedlah, her breasts pressing proudly against the silken holders that looked as if they threatened to spill her bountiful bosom at any moment. She had harem pants that matched the color of bedlah, the fabric sheer, allowing air to flow and to show off her surprisingly slim legs and curvy hips. She bore her stomach proudly, not being too plump, enough to squeeze and hold and enjoy. She never wore shoes inside the area, she demanded for any who entered to take theirs off. She felt it kept the place clean, not to mention many men seemed to enjoy the sight of their soft delicate feet. Her hands were on her hips, her copper colored skin flushed red with mild annoyance at the younger woman. "You will be back in time for your shift, ya? You won't run late like you have for the past few night, ya? You know you are popular, yes? But you always make them wait. Always! You know this little teasing game is going to lose its charm soon, ya? All these years and you…"  
The young woman stared at the woman as she began to rant about her behavior, an impatient look splayed across her features. Her light caramel skin was flushed in an annoyed embarrassment, her head tilted forward slightly, her bangs and side locks helping to hide at least a bit of her face from view but still, she couldn't avoid her complete stare. Being scolded every time she didn't return just as the sun was going down she got the same speech. A small pout was on her rosy pink lips, her light brown eyes, glancing to the left of Aaliyah's head, then to the right, then down at her nails which seemed so very interesting at this moment. The young woman's small ears twitched slightly at the lack of sound, gulping slightly as her eyes slowly moved away from her nails and up, meeting the darkening black eyes of one of her many surrogate mothers'. Chuckling nervously, the young woman jumped forward, giving the short woman a tight hug and waving her fingers at Aaliyah as she slowly began to back out of the door.

"Bye Mama Aaliyah", she exclaimed, her voice soft and full of slightly suppressed laughter. "I promise I'll be back before sundown! Love you!" That was always the best way to diffuse the situation. The women of the brothel loved a sincere profession of love, and this little one was always there to give it.

"Kim, I mean it!" she shouted as she watched the girl dash down the street, between the seedy men that visited this street and the poor beggar children that always travelled through the area. "You be back before the sun begins to kiss the sands of the west!" Kim began to skip backwards, the soles of her red and black shoes digging into the sand lightly, waving with a soft chuckle.

"Yes Mama!" Doing a graceful turn about, she let go of the laugh she had been holding in, the soft twinkling sound dancing off the walls as she turned about, continuing to run between people walking on the streets. They didn't pay much mind to the girl, this being a weekly habit of hers. Only foreigners that came for Agrabah's legendary Red Light District gave her odd stares, wondering why such a bubbly woman was in this part of town; especially with the outfit she was wearing. Coal black hakama pants with their intricate folds differed greatly from the harem pants of the area that didn't leave much to the imagination for the men. The pants clung tight to her waist and the top of her hips and that was about the extent of it, her pants falling loosely around the rest of her legs, falling completely about her feet and hiding them from sight. Her shoes were simple, black with red stripes slip ones, easy enough to slide into but they wouldn't fall off unless pulled from her feet. Her tops would be the only thing to give hint to her profession, the tight crimson red v-neck t-shirt would offer a wonderful view of her cleavage…had she not bound her chest before she left the brothel. She was not on the job nor was she a moving advertisement in her free times. Plus it was much easier to travel around this town with at least a slightly smaller chest. She still looked buxom, but at least it was manageable and she could actually run this way. Kim continued through the large city, taking back streets and alleyways that led to her own personal exit. Making a left turn, Kim jumped over a crate of discarded apples, grinning as she approached a solid wall. A few boxes were stacked up against the wall of one of the crumbling houses, nowhere near high enough to reach the top of the wall. But then again, this is why this was her special little exit. Starting a full paced run, jumping off one of the boxes to get her a few feet off the ground then kicked off of the house, squeaking as she heard a few bricks begin to hit the ground before beginning to inch herself up the wall, running upward before grabbing the top edge with a smirk. Using pure upper body strength she pushed herself up, hoisting her right leg over then her left and sitting on the top edge, patting herself on the back as she panted softly. Leaning back slightly, she chuckled as she looked out at her 'playground'. There was sand as far as the eye could see. Here and there, there were sprinkling of grassy areas where the springs of water helped to actually make something flourish. Those areas were her places of choice. Jumping down off of the wall, she slid into a sand dune before beginning to jog, knowing exactly what direction to run towards after doing this routine so many times. Jogging slowly but steadily towards her personal oasis, she chuckled softly, spinning before doing a cart wheel, the sand being the perfect cushion for such a maneuver, even if she did mess up, the worse she would get is a few light scrapes by the soft sand. She had her number of falls and slides and incidents involving the sand. The worse had to be when she decided to go swimming only to have a monkey steal her clothes…dashing through the desert only to have sand get stuck in uncomfortable crevices and for her to make the sneakiest re-entry into the city she ever pulled off. She learned her lesson; always fold up your clothes and place them underneath a clean rock. Slowing to a stop as her foot crushed grass instead of the slippery sand. Catching her breath, she dropped to the ground next to the spring. Arching herself backwards, she smiled at the resounding cracks that followed before dipping her hands in and bringing her cupped hands to her lips. The water was cool and refreshing to her warmed body, a content sigh leaving her mouth as she gulped. Falling back onto the grassy area she slowly let her eyes close, the palm tree above her providing the perfect balance of warmth from the sun and cool of the shade. These were the only times she felt she could just let go. There were no eyes ogling her, no one judging her, no one ordering her to do this chore or talk with this man. She could just be Kim. Humming a soft song, her foot moved from left to right, her hips beginning to join in before her entire body began to move to the little beat in her head. Her hips continued to switch from side to side, opening her mouth and beginning to sing the song to herself. Her voice slowly began to give way as the end of the song neared, her eyebrows began to furrow up slightly as she heard what sounded to be the clanking of ceramic pots. Shaking her head slightly, she chuckled softly. It had to be her imagination, right. This was off the path into the city and she knew there was absolutely no way that pots or any other item could be making those sounds. Maybe her mind was still stuck in the city. Shrugging her shoulders lightly, she began to hum yet another song. The song ceased as the clanking was heard once again, her eyes slowly opening as she slowly sat up. What she saw made her heart skip a beat—maybe even two. "What in the seven hells", she muttered under her breath as she looked over the freakish fantasy creature in front of her, color beginning to slowly drain from her face.

The creature stood at a good fourteen feet tall, completely overshadowing her in height, rocking from left to right in a menacing fashion. It appeared to be 'like' a centipede, but it sure as hell was no centipede she had ever seen. Its head was dark blue, fangs and pincers sharp and menacing. Bright yellow eyes stared down at her, the antennae between them twitching with every other movement. The movements it made as it glowered down at the young woman confused her to no extent. Its body…was made out of red pots! Pots with legs! How…how is it possible something like that…could even exist?! She gulped as her eyes settled on its blue thorax, the two sharpened silver prongs glistening in the desert sun…this thing…was going to kill her… As odd as it seemed, the thing that stood out most about this creature was not its body composition, nor its glare but the odd shape on its head. An upside down heart with three prongs springing out in three directions, the black and red color making it even more…intriguingly terrifying.  
As she stared in awe at the terrifying creature, it was taking its chance to strike the awestruck female. Kim's eyes grew round as the creature sped towards her, diving to the right and rolling a few times, her side hitting hard against the side of a palm tree. Her body arched in pain, one of her arms wrapping to hold her side. White hot lightning rushed up and down but she honestly had no time to nurse her wounds as the centipede began to rise again for another killer strike. Pushing herself back with her feet, she actually gained footing, jumping up shakily and dashing to the left this time, if only in a meager attempt to throw the monster off.

'What the hell is going on, what the hell is going on?!' she screamed mentally as she continued to dash away from the creature, going left then right and repeating the pattern. The giant pot centipede seemed to be catching onto her strategy, as it began to try and dive one way before immediately going the next.

"Shit!" she exclaimed as instead of going right, it went left and almost straight towards her.  
Diving forward and barrel rolling, the centipede narrowly missed hitting Kim and…devouring her? Her eyebrow furrowed up as she turned on the banks of spring, wondering what the hell she was running from. It couldn't really eat her, could it? Those pinschers and that tail were probably the most dangerous thing other than its weight and she just had to stay two steps in front of it. How could she stop this…thing? Looking about for anything to fight off this kind of creature, she saw the water held her solution. Just as the centipede dived her for her again, Kim jumped into the water, kicking her legs hard before her pants weighed her down. Kicking her legs extremely hard, she grabbed a bamboo shoot, yanking it out with all her strength. On the third or fourth pull she finally got the bamboo shoot out of the ground, just as the centipede's pinschers came for her head. Squeaking, she grabbed the pole and took a dive into the water, further soaking herself as she began towards the other side of the spring. Placing the pole on the shore, she clawed her way out, groaning as her pants weighed her down. Knowing this was no time to complain, she bent down and grabbed the pole, eyes narrowing dangerously. If this thing was going to attack her unprovoked, then she was going to fight to the death.

"Come and get it!" she yelled, the creature crawling towards her quickly, letting out a low hiss.  
Charging the centipede, she looked for weak spots, her eyes lighting up as she suddenly realized the perfect spot. Dashing as quickly as she could in the wet, slowly drying hakama pants, she ran towards the creature as it tried to lower its face unsuccessfully towards her. Smirking as she got close enough she took a hard swing at one of the pots, a triumphant laugh passing from her lips as the pot began to chip. Swinging the bamboo pole back, it made a whistling sound as it flew through the air, the pot cracking completely with the second blow. Quickly moving back, she watched the centipede crumple to the floor, a wide grin spreading across Kim's face.

"Yes!" she screamed, jumping up and down as she saw the centipede on the ground.  
Doing a little dance, she thought that the pain would keep it down, spinning about with a wide grin. She didn't however see as the centipede's two pots slowly slink together and connect in a swirl of dark energy. It slowly began to rise above her menacingly, snapping down at her only to get a mouthful of pole.  
"Oh…shit" she murmured softly, her eye twitching slightly. The pot centipede stood in between her and the spring where she had grabbed her makeshift weapon before hand, leaving her with nothing but a pissed off centipede and plenty of space for it to hunt her down.

'Shit shit shit…I'm gonna die!' she exclaimed, bracing herself for a dodge. The pot centipede came crashing for her, gulping hard as she dove to the left, a spray of sand hitting her. The centipede rose up again, this time going for the downed, slightly blinded girl. Her murky, sand blinded vision left her with nothing but a shadow of the figure that was crashing towards her. Lifting her arms if to at least block herself, her hands began to tingle sharply. She felt a solid object appear in her hands, a loud twang resounded as she felt the centipede crash into whatever was in her hands and bouncing away. "Wh-what the hell?!"She exclaimed as she quickly crawled towards the water, holding extremely tight to the mystical savior weapon in her hand. Shoving her face underwater, she opened her eyes quickly to wash them of the blinding sand, pulling her head out as quickly as she could as not to be ambushed. Turning around and standing up, she looked down at her hands, her eyes growing wide. The weapon was kind've in the shape of a key. The hilt of the weapon was plain in appearance while the hand guards make the shape of a crimson heart. On each hand guard is a single outwardly curved spike that seems sharp in appearance, the ends of the hand guard are two curved shapes that look like teardrops, swirling black and crimson energy floating in the teardrops. Where the hilt ends is a small obsidian ball with what seems to be a large keychain. At the end of the keychain is a cartoon version of a red fox head, with its eyes closed and mouth in what some would call a kitsune grin. At the base of the deadly weapon is a mis-formed cone like shape. The blade itself is somewhat thin, red-black, with two small spikes towards the end of it. Kim turned the weapon over and over in her hands, shocked at its sudden appearance, one, and how amazing it looked. Its color and mere aura reminded her of home…of The Red Light District. Her eyes slowly went back towards the pot centipede coming out of its daze, turning its head languidly towards the young woman before gaining its murderous energy back. The beast quickly drew itself back up; glowering down at the young woman as she slowly took a fighting stance. As the monster went to attack, she switched angles on it, diving forward and barrel rolling till she was at the monster's left side. Quickly jumping up, she swung the blade hard towards one of the pots, a streak of black following in the swing's wake. A satisfied smirk came to Kim's lips as the sickening crunch of the giant bug's leg as the keyblade connected, the pot shattering at the pressure it caused. Wasting no time, she twisted her body backwards, her keyblade slamming into yet another pot, the same energies following, shattering it as the creature howled out in anger. The creature was now only three or four feet taller than her, a plan beginning to form in her mind. Holding the keyblade tight in her hands, she bent down slightly, running about the creature as it snaked itself up, falling at her heels, tripping her up slightly. A soft squeak fell from her lip, her instincts turning her towards the only thing that could catch—the pot centipede. The creature's head slowly turned to glare at the human clinging to body. A soft hiss left its mouth, agitation growing to determination. Determination to destroy her. The creature dove for her, as she scrambled over the body of the centipede, narrowly escaping an obliterated ankle. Shoving her keyblade through the pot, she yanked it down with a soft grunt. Turning it to the other side, she smashed through another one of the few remaining pots, knowing if she gave the furious creature anytime to rebound she would be dead. Pot after pot was destroyed before there was nothing but the tail and the head left. The creature suddenly looked hopeless, a smirk crossing her lips as she stood up completely, little beads of sweat rolling down her face. Lifting the keyblade, smoking with a small aura of darkness, she stabbed the blade downward through the head of the creature, sighing as it finally ceased moving, its entire being dissipating into nothing.

Kim panted softly as she fell back onto her bottom, shaking her head slightly as she saw the previous imprint of the creature's body on the ground. Had that really happened? Yes…yes it had…for her magical savior weapon, Red Light District was still in her hands. Turning it over once, twice, thrice in her hands, she shook her head yet again, biting her bottom lip gently. Insanity….where had this come from? Why did it come to her, of all people? And how in the world did she know those moves? She didn't fight with weapons. Hand to hand combat was what she could do, and that was limited. Indeed, this weapon was a magical one…

"You have found your strength", a soft, feminine voice whispered in her ears. "Cherish it."  
Kim's eyes went wide at the soft voice that touched her ears before being completely engulfed in darkness. Attempts to scream met silence, and no matter what she tried to grab at…she reached and touched absolutely nothing. Closing her eyes tight, expecting a painful death for punishment for her years of unwilling sin. Her entire body jumped as she felt herself suddenly in solid contact, eyes flying open as she looked about to see where she was. Instantly she was blinded by how bright her surroundings were. Her mind couldn't help but begin to wonder if this was heaven, if she'd actually been sent to heaven. As her eyes began to grow used to the brightness of the 'room', she looked about curiously. This was a train. She had heard about this before! Trains could get people from one location to another in amazingly fast ways. Looking about, she could see the interior of the train was white, matching the seats about the room. Only a few people were in this car of the train; a young gentleman holding to one of the handles that hung from the ceilings, a mother and her young daughter who were talking animatedly to one another, and a group of three teenagers, each with headphones on their ears, somehow maintaining a conversation at the same time. So…comfortable. Kim slowly turned her head to look out of the window, seeing buildings fly by. Kim's eyes grew wide as it suddenly hit once again that she wasn't in Agrabah anymore, having been swept away from her home by that darkness. Staring in awe as the taller buildings grew into medium sized ones, she squeaked softly as she felt the train begin to slowly, her body lurching forward slightly as it came to a complete stop. "Housing District", a warm, yet somehow robotic female voice said clearly, the younger gentleman and the small family rising to obviously return to her home.  
Blinking repeatedly, Kim was stuck at what to do next. Slowly looking over to the teenagers her age, they suddenly seemed a bit more alert of their surroundings. Getting up from her seat she quickly walked over to the group of peers, hoping to at least get some answer before the doors shut.  
"Excuse me!" she said, maybe a bit too loud, only so they could hear her over those headphones. "Can you tell me where this train is going next?" She gulped a light blush spreading across her cheeks. The group of teens with colored hair and matching headphones looked at her for the moment before a girl with hot pink hair and shocking pink headphones slowly pulled her accessory back.

"Aye", she said, a gruff yet kind voice. "It'll take you to the music square."

Music square? Kim didn't know what that was but…it sounded right. Nodding her head repeatedly in thanks, the girl smiled back at her, if not a bit questioningly, before placing her headphones back on. The doors closed as Kim took her seat again, staring out the window before it pulled into another station. The sounds of music began to drift into the train, growing louder as the train doors opened. Standing, Kim was the last to make her way out of the train, letting her eyes fall upon the station. There were people playing music here too…just sitting and playing with people stopping to listen. It was amazing. Walking down the steps of the station, her eyes grew wide as she saw stage upon stage filled with musicians or actors or dancers. It was breathtaking. A lively classical beat caught her eyes, turning her eyes to an orchestra that seemed very into their music. Smiling slightly, she stopped in from of their stage, moving her body slightly to the beat.


	4. Chris' Awakening

The city seemed especially busy today. The sounds of footsteps from the hundreds of bustling people filled the air. Idle chatter from cell phone users echoed from all around only to be interrupted by the occasional honking of a cab car. The sidewalks and even the streets were like a sea of business suits and the smell of coffee lingered throughout this ocean. In all of this sophisticated chaos there was one who stood out from the rest. A young man that was a little over six feet tall walked casually with his hands in his pockets. He donned a white hooded jacket with a black t-shirt underneath. The sleeves of the jacket were torn completely off as to appear as if it were a hooded vest which bore a big black and white nautical star on the back. He wore black jean shorts and black and white shoes. His skin was chocolate brown and he was wrapped in white bandages from his hands to the end of his forearms. His hood covered the back half of his short, dreadlocked braids which only extended over the top region of his head leaving the rest styled with a pinstriped fade and a boxed line up. His face was covered by a form-fitting black half mask with the lower half of a traditional Oni's face etched in white where his lower face would be. As he walked down the sidewalk pushing past the oncoming people, he could feel their stares as each one of them passed by. Some would whisper. Some would point. He just kept on walking. "Long time no see, eh Chris?" a voice called out from behind. Chris turned around briefly to see who the voice came from. Nobody seemed to have been trying to get his attention. He started to continue on walking until he noticed a familiar face looking in his direction. It was a female that couldn't have been any older than eighteen and she appeared to have a very athletic build. She wore a white vest-like jacket similar to the one Chris wears but hers is much shorter in comparison, stopping only a couple inches above her navel. She wore a black short-sleeved shirt underneath (which was the same length of her jacket) and white, baggy, cargo pants. Her amethyst-colored hair was pulled back into a spiked ponytail. Her eyes were like amber in its purest form and they were fixed on Chris. As Chris began to step towards her she disappeared in the crowd. "Meet me in our old spot." Her voice echoed. Chris made his way to their meeting spot which was the tallest skyscraper in the city. When he arrived to the top he found the girl sitting on the outer railing swinging her legs carelessly.

"What do you want Mitsuki?" Chris asked.

"Aw, is that the greeting I get after all this time?" She replied playfully. "Maybe I just wanted to see you." She added with a smile. Chris scoffed in disbelief. Mitsuki back flipped on to the rooftop and approached Chris. "I see you still insist on wearing that ridiculous mask." She said while getting closer to him.

"And I see you still insist on wearing the same color scheme as me." Chris said. "Besides, you wouldn't understand anyway." He added. At that point Mitsuki had pushed her body against his.

"All I understand is that it makes it harder to do this." She said as she leaned in and placed her finger on the rim of Chris's mask. He quickly grabbed her wrist stopping her from revealing his face.

"Not even you." He said sternly. Their eyes locked for a moment and it was silent. That is until they broke away from each other and saw what seemed to be shadows moving around on the floor. Mitsuki immediately armed herself with a kunai from the pouch on her pants. The shadows began to protrude from the floor and took the shape of odd insect-like creatures. Their bright yellow eyes and antennae were the only defining features. Chris reached behind his right shoulder. A bright light illuminated his hand as a hilt of some sort appeared. He began to pull the hilt upwards while the rest of the object materialized as if it were being drawn from an invisible scabbard. The blade was oddly key-shaped and the hilt had a yellow rectangular design around it. After seeing this, Mitsuki began her attack but to no avail. Every strike she attempted went through the creatures as if they were intangible. Chris saw one of them about to retaliate and quickly stepped in front of the girl. He made quick work of the fiend with three slashes. More shadow creatures began to appear. Chris held them off and fought valiantly while Mitsuki could only stare in awe. She was amazed by the speed and skill that Chris was demonstrating. As he was about to take out one of the creatures his blade disappeared in mid-slash. This caught Chris off guard and he began to be overwhelmed by the shadow fiends. After a while his vision became shrouded in darkness and all he could hear were the echoed screams of Mitsuki. That sound became more and more distant until he could no longer hear his name being screamed. "What the hell happened? Am I dead?" Chris thought to himself.

"Your borrowed power has expired but do not worry, you are still very much alive." An Omni-present female voice replied. Ignoring the fact that someone other than him heard his thoughts, Chris continued on.

"Where am I?" he asked.

"Summon the power from inside yourself and light the way." The voice replied. Chris held out his hands and much to his surprise two bright lights appeared. In his right hand was keyblade. The blade had a silver ethereal light surrounding it and the hilt was black with a downward pentagon shape. The handle had a streak of aqua blue within it and the points of the pentagon had the same color scheme. Right above the hilt was a silver star, with white wings bordering it. The blade itself was silver with two sets of white straps located upon it. The keyblade's teeth appeared like a crown cut from two stars and twin seraph wings were superimposed upon each other directly behind it. Finally, the keyblade's keychain was black with a black and white nautical star pendant. In his left hand, another keyblade materialized. This blade had a golden light surrounding it and the hilt was shaped like a katana's with a jagged golden crescent moon around it. The blade was also katana shaped and the teeth looked like three kunai (two small kunai and one large kunai in the middle of them) infused with the katana that was surrounded by a golden jagged sun at the tip. The keychain was silver and a golden yin yang pendant hung from it. Both of the keyblades created such a bright light that it completely eliminated the darkness. Chris then found himself in a town filled with music playing from every direction.


	5. Nick's Awakening

A young man can be seen in a pitch black abyss. He appeared to be glowing because he was the only thing visible in sight. He was a bigger man with a stocky build. He was fairly tan and stood somewhere around 6'5" at nearly 200 pounds. He wore a loose green shirt that looked to be a few sizes too big. He wore baggy black jeans with a black belt hung loosely around his waist to keep his pants from falling. His attire was completed by a pair of completely black shoes laced with a pair of green shoe laces to match his shirt. He had a buzzed haircut with green streaks through his hair. He also had a full goatee. He was slowly floating downwards as if he were in an ocean in the middle of the darkest night. The man was slowly regaining consciousness. His eyes slowly opened to reveal a pair of emerald green eyes. He looked around lazily. He started to take a long deep breath that turned into a yawn before the drowsiness of his slumber could wear off. He started to realize that although he felt like he was inside water that it couldn't be so. It was more like a magical force suspended him into a slower fall.

The man looked down to notice a stained glass platform. It was sculpted in the image of another young man. This man was in the center of the platform. He was a taller man with a thin muscular build. He had long brown hair with crystal blue eyes that looked as though they could pierce through anything they gazed upon. He had an X-shaped scar that centered between his eyes. He wore a white t-shirt with a black vest open over the tee. On the vest was a red insignia of a lion's head sitting on top of a cross. He had on a black pair of jeans with a black belt to hold them up. He had brown belts crossed into an x hung loosely on him below his waist. He had another black belt the hung slightly under the brown that was higher on the left side. His shoes were gray on black. He wore a necklace with the same insignia on his vest hung from the chain. Upon his left arm, he wore three brown belt-like straps from his elbow to his wrist, each spaced evenly. He also wore black gloves. The thing that caught the floating young man's attention from the moment he saw it was the blade that the man carried in his right hand. It was a medium length sword. The swords hilt was in the shape of a revolver with a gray handle and a chain that a lion's head pendant hung from. The background of the glass was stained green. The only other thing other that the man centered was the silver lion's head above the man's head.

The young man was floating towards the platform. He positioned himself to get ready to land on his feet onto the platform. He gently landed onto the platform. He took a few steps to get a closer look at the blade in the sculpted man's hand. "Where am I?" said the young man.

"This young man's name is Leon," said an omnipresent female's voice.

"Who said that?" the young man yelled in shock. He quickly looked around but to no avail as he could not see anything. The woman sounded as if he had penetrated his mind.

"I am everything, yet I am nothing. I am but the keeper of the key," the woman said.  
The young man cocked his head like a confused dog would normally do. He held out his hand and in a flash of light, summoned a blade to his hand. It looked like a long silver key. The shaft was a blunt cylinder that extended like a medium length sword. The key part was a blade, which looked like an old school key. The hilt was gold that was a square to protect his hand. There was a silver rod for the man to hold on to. He also had a chain at the bottom of the hilt that held a pendant of a simplified mouse head only made in circles. "Okay, so I guess you are going to explain what this is," the young man deciphered as he motioned the Kingdom Keyblade into the air above his head to put it into view. "I really hope you can tell me why this blade keeps disappearing whenever I summon it. Or maybe what it is for because I have no clue," the young man spoke.

"It disappears because it is not yours. This blade belongs to someone else. Do not worry, young one. You have the ability to create your own with the power that resides in your own heart. You will no longer need to use your borrowed talents anymore," the woman spoke.

The young man looked around. He noticed bubbling black ooze formulate at the other side of the platform. It began to grow larger until a creature stepped out. The ooze slowly disappeared. The creature was short. He looked as though he were a shadow that was peeled from the floor and painted. It wore a metal helmet that stuck out at the top. He has an insignia in his chest. It looked like a red heart with a red barbed wire X separating it into 4 parts. He had metal cuff links on his wrists. His fingers looked sharpened and painted red like blood. His eyes glowed yellow and he bore a wide toothy grin. He bobbled around like he couldn't keep still. He shook and jittered all around. The young man was baffled. He crouched and gripped the keyblade with both hands. As he firmly grasped it in his hands, it disappeared in a puff of smoke. "Oh no," the young man said. The creature saw his defenseless victim. He pounced, claws ready toward the young man. The young man dived out of the way. The creature clawed through the young man's pants only missing by a second. It landed on the ground fully leaning forward. It regained its balance and lunged for the young man's throat. The man dived to the side. He smirked to himself deciding that this was too easy for him. The creature landed and immediately dived as the man did. The man had no time to evade. He tried to stumble sideways. The creature was too fast. Its claws pierced through the man's side. The young man gripped his side and backed away quickly from the creature. "C'mon Nick. Trust in yourself. The lady can't be that wrong," he mumbled to himself.  
Nick took the stance he had when he was holding the Kingdom Key and closed his eyes. The creature wobbled to its feet. It jumped towards him again. The creature flew towards Nick, and it was flying fast. Nick had yet to open his eyes. In a split second and a flash of light, the creature was blasted back with a swipe from Nick's new keyblade. The creature hit his back, flipped onto his stomach, and slid backwards a few feet. Static electricity trailed through the air where the swipe took place. In Nick's right hand was a blade similar to the man in the stained glass. This, however, was a keyblade. The onyx black colored blade in his hand would be considered a gunblade except towards the end of the blade was the end of a key. The handle of the revolver was studded like a normal gun. Nick admired his new keyblade. He said without a second's hesitation, "The Executioner." Nick looked at the creature and pointed the gun at the creature. "Get out of here. I'm not going to take the life of anything." The creature twitched and wobbled to its feet. It looked at Nick, and lunged towards him. Nick took a step back. "Don't do this. Please. Stop," Nick yelled at the top of his lungs. A few inches from his blade, the creature was frozen in its place in midair. Nick fell backwards and scrambled back. "Why? I shouldn't have to kill anything! I should just be able to defend the weak!" Nick screamed as he looked around to make sure the voice heard.

"Young one, that creature in front of you is what is known as a Heartless. It is a creature created from others malice. It feasts on the hearts of others. You were granted that keyblade to relinquish the hearts from it. It is the only way to free the captured heart. Think not of what you are doing as a whole; just think that you are saving other people from having their hearts stolen." The voice said.

"Heartless, created from malice, steal others hearts. So I was given this to protect others. That makes sense." Nick said as he looked at his keyblade. He looked at the Heartless, and he heard a click noise. He heard another one, then another. It seemed to be speeding up. Nick watched the Heartless begin to move slowly speeding up. Nick sidestepped, and watched the Heartless land onto the ground. He gripped his keyblade tightly and swung it downwards slashing through the creature. The only thing that was left was the static from the swing. Nick watched as a holographic heart floated upward until it disappeared. "What caused him to stop like that?" Nick pondered.

"That was magic. It seems you are going to use magic. Now go upwards. Your destiny waits." The voice said.

Nick looked around until he noticed what looked like clear glass stairs. He slowly walked upward as he still gripped his side. He finally made it all the way up stairs onto another stained glass platform. He noticed that the center was a little different. It was a figure in a black cloak-like hoodie with the hood up. Nick couldn't see the face of the person but he noticed that the man was surrounded by six spears stuck into the ground all around him facing outwards. He walked onto the platform to see if he could see the face under the cloak until he noticed the black shadow-like ooze form again. This time it was bigger. The Heartless that came out this time was also bigger. It was over 20 feet tall with a hole the shape of the heart carved out of its chest. It has two hair-like strands sticking out of its head upward in a wavy fashion. He has extremely big arms with smaller legs. He stood up and looked at Nick with his huge devilish yellow eyes. Nick gripped his keyblade until you could see the white in his knuckles. He watched the Heartless raise its fist into the air. He watched the fist tower above him. He waited until he saw the fist twitch towards him to jump to the side and run forwards. When the fist touched the ground, a black shadowy mass opened. A group of five Heartless came out. They walked on four legs and had similar strands as the big one. They were all smaller. They turned towards Nick and soaked into the ground to cut him off before he reached the giant Heartless.

The five of them popped out in front of Nick. He was forced to stop. Nick slashed his keyblade horizontally to knock one of them away. The creature behind him was going for a head butt. Nick stepped to the side and parried the attack which knocked the creature away. He used the force from the parry to slash upwards and knock another Heartless away. The giant Heartless looked like he was gathering energy for an attack. Nick slashed through one of the two Heartless standing in his way of the big one before the other three could regroup. Nick stabbed forward to kill the final Heartless standing in his way. As he disappeared, the giant Heartless fired a white glowing sphere. Nick tried to run to the side but the white sphere followed him. Nick prepared to jump to the side when a wave of pain rushed to his side. "I knew I couldn't ignore it for that long." Nick mumbled. The white sphere was coming closer. Nick slashed at it. When he hit it, it rebounded from the end of his keyblade and fired back at the giant Heartless. When it hit him, he flung his head backwards and dropped his hands. He started to tilt his head back and forth as if he was trying to recompose himself. The little Heartless had regrouped in front of Nick. Nick clenched his teeth to force himself through the pain and ran forward. He jumped over the Heartless and threw his keyblade into the stomach. Nick used the blade to springboard himself into the air and summoned his keyblade to his hand. Nick launched a powerful aerial three hit combo to the head of the monster. The creature groaned in agony and sank into darkness. The three other Heartless followed his lead and sank back into the ground. Nick landed onto the ground into the shadow and fell to his side in pain. "Damn," Nick moaned with his eyes clenched. His eyes shot open as he felt himself sinking into the darkness as well. "Oh no. No. No!" Nick started to yell as he made his keyblade disappear with a puff of smoke. With one of his hands grasping his side, he tried to use his other hand to pull him from the darkness. He couldn't get out fast enough as he fell into the darkness. Nothing but darkness surrounded him. He couldn't see anything. Within the darkness, all he heard was an irritating screeching noise. It kept repeating itself over and over again. Nick opened his eyes and looked over at his alarm clock. He grabbed it and threw it across the room. He sat up and felt his comforter fall from his shoulders to his waist. He put his hands over his face and rubbed temples with his pointer fingers. "It was just a dream. How could it be though? It made so much sense how I can summon this?" Nick said as he held out his hand and summoned The Executioner with a flash of light. Nick looked at the keyblade stunned. "Uh, this is a little strange." Nick said as he let the keyblade vanish with a puff of smoke. Nick's eyes shot wide open and grabbed the side the Heartless hit. Nothing was there. "Oh, thank goodness." Nick sighed. His room seemed a little small because it was crammed with everything he could fit in there. His bed was a futon that never was put into a couch. His television was in the corner of the room. He had a few bookshelves that were filled with manga, books and games for his 360. His dresser sat next to them open from being filled with clothing. He got out of bed and yanked a green tee off of a hanged. He put it on and looked at the clock on the floor. It read 9:55 A.M. "Oh no!" Nick yelled. "Blake can't get to school by himself."

Nick had graduated last year, but he felt the need to walk a friend of his to school every day. Blake was an accident prone 12th grader that messed with the wrong people last year. He decided to date the captain of the football team's ex-girlfriend. They would have settled it if Nick hadn't of been there. Nick was the head of the judo team, and he had taught the football team a few lessons that year about just because you got into the playoffs doesn't make you the top of the school. They have been waiting for their chance ever since to get even. It may be high school drama, but he couldn't let his friend go down in a fight. Nick threw on his jeans and socks. He slipped on his shoes and grabbed his belt. He quickly brushed his teeth along with all the other necessary requirements to leave the house. He jumped over the banister and landed in the living room on the first floor. He quickly opened the sliding glass door and slammed it behind him. Nick ran towards the fence and jumped. He used his right foot to propel himself off of the fence and onto the ladder that hung down from the fire escape that hung behind his house. He pulled himself upward until he reached the roof. He ran across the roof and jumped to the next one. He dropped onto the lower section of the roof and jumped to a smaller two story house. Nick ran across the roof and jumped into their backyard onto their trampoline and over the back fence. He took a moment to regain his composure then continued to run out of the alleyway into the school. Right away, he saw Blake dropped in the corner of the front doors and the outside front wall. Nick ran across the street and jumped into the air to punch the man standing in front of Blake.

"Hey Blake, you o-," Nick started to say until he noticed the thing he punched was definitely not a man but a pretty big Heartless. It looked like a giant blueberry with a cymbal on its head the barely stuck out of the top. Its arms kind of hung out were huge. They could probably palm Nick easily. He stood on short legs. He had chains on his wrists and the heart emblem on his chest. It looked like he had a vest that barley held together in front of him. Nick summoned his keyblade and swung at him. It rebounded off his stomach and knocked him back. The creature spun around and hit Nick with his large arms. Nick landed flat on his back a few feet away. "Blake, run! Get out of here now!" Nick yelled as he popped off his back. He tried to stab the Heartless in the stomach again only to be hit back again. The Heartless rolled towards Nick like a boulder. Nick dived to the side to escape the path of the beast. Nick turned and watched it struggle to turn around. He ran towards it and slashed at its back. The Heartless fell forward onto its stomach and jiggled around. Nick threw two powerful swings into its back. The force of the swings pushed it forward into the wall. "Thunder," Nick yelled and a flash appeared at the tip of his keyblade. A dark cloud appeared over them both and lightning fell into a few spots until it hit the Heartless. It dissipated into nothing. Nick smirked. "I am glad that actually worked. If it didn't, I would have had to try that stop spell again," Nick said to himself. He held his keyblade in his right hand behind his neck.

"Nick! Look out!" yelled Blake from the door of the school.

"What?" Nick said as he looked behind him to see the giant Heartless from before raise himself behind him. Nick whipped around and watched the fist rise again. "No new tricks?" Nick hummed to himself. The creature swatted his hand across horizontally slamming Nick into a car. He struggled to pry himself from the car only to watch a white sphere crush into his chest and explode into electricity. Nick flew back into the car as the car flipped onto its roof and slide across the pavement into another car. He was wedged between to the two cars. He pushed on the car to free himself a little. He fell to the ground and rolled out from between the two cars. Nick looked at the giant Heartless as it charged for another shot. "Aw, crap." Nick mumbled to himself as he raised himself to his feet. Nick prepared to rebound it back at him when he watched it fire three at the same time. He jumped backwards to let the three get closer together and threw a horizontal swing. He rebounded two of them and barley missed getting hit by the third. It landed right behind him and exploded. Nick flew forward into the path of the creature fist. Nick jumped and landed onto the forearm of the beast as the three white spheres hit it. Nick clamped to its arm as it flailed around. As it settled down, Nick ran up the rest of the arm onto its shoulder. He proceeded to land another three hit combo, this time with his body weight into it. The creature groaned as it did before and began to sink into the ground. "Not this time sucker!" Nick yelled as he jumped out of the shadowy abyss. Nick smirked at his accomplishment and started to walk towards the school when a giant hand grabbed Nick. The hand pulled him into the abyss that cracked the ground like an earthquake. Nick fought with all of his strength to get out of the grasp. He looked up and watched the light from the sky diminish into nothing but pitch black. He started to fade from consciousness. The last thing Nick felt was the same falling feeling from his dream.

Nick awoke on something in complete darkness. He sat up and hit his head on the top of something. He put his hands on the top and shoved upward. He could see a crevice of light appear at the top. Nick pushed a little harder and the lid opened all the way. He stepped out of a box in what looked like a storage room. Nick found the door and went out the back into an alley way. He could hear a faint music in the background. He walked out of the alley way into a busy district that looked like a shopping district.  
"Ilusia," Nick muttered under his breath as he read a sign. "Well, I know where I am but that doesn't help with where in the world I am." Nick said as he walked towards a set of double doors with a big number two painted on them. Nick opened them and walked through a village portion to this town. He continued on his way until he could clearly hear the music coming from behind another set of doors with a big number three painted on there. Nick walked towards those doors and opened them. He walked into a beautiful melody played all around. Nick walked through to let it soak in. He walked to a bench and sat down to listen to the music and ponder for a little while.


	6. Wolfie's Awakening

This day would be different from the others. This fight would decide the true head honcho of the city was. Up until now the four gang leaders lived in a grid lock of power over the city and against one another. Each had a section of the city divided evenly among them more or less. Still this wasn't enough to satisfy any of them. How could it? There was always the risk of two or more overpowering the others. That little fact kept them constantly on high alert and evermore suspicious of the others. This had to end, and today was the day for it.

Dawn broke out over the streets of Amelia City. The sun's first rays hitting the backs of the three dozen members of the Crimson Wolf Gang. They stood ready to attack at the command of their leader, only known as Alpha. She stood at the opening of the City's center from the east entrance. At the other three entrances stood the opposing gangs. To the north, the Silver Tigers lead by a man, or boy depending how you considered them, know as Ambush. To the South stood Osiris of the Black Lions. Directly across from Alpha was Zero leader of the Purple Bears.

Alpha shifted her gaze from one enemy to the other. Behind her she could feel The Pack becoming restless behind her. Her head turned slightly to look behind her. She was happy to see her loyal members so ready to take what was rightfully theirs. To her right she felt someone drop from the surrounding roofs. Her head turned and she saw Nova kneeling with his head bowed.

"Report." Alpha commanded as she crossed her arms and looked back across the intersection.

"Osiris has his best with him along with new faces I haven't seen before. Each carry the special choice of weapon the Black Lions are known for. Zero has in number but their strength is just as great as the others. Again he relies of the strength of the individual then the number. Ambush has his men ready to overtake as usual. I think there are more of his group that aren't visible." Nova paused in his report to gauge what his boss would say. Instead of commenting she held her usual rigid stance. He could literally see her hair bristle and her ears twitch angrily at the top of her head. His eyes lowered quickly and his own ears fell flat against his head. He stayed quiet as his mind wandered. Mostly he focused on the war that was about to break loose, but also on his leader and how she held herself.

Each gang had their own way of representing themselves using some sort of body modification. The Silver Tigers chose striped tattoos, tipped ears and a tail to set themselves apart. The Black Lions went on a similar route but no stripes. Instead they found a way to grow claws and used them to their advantage. The Purple Bears had modifications done to their jaws by adding fangs into a protruding jaw. Just glancing at Alpha you knew that she was a member of the Crimson Wolves by the ears that sat pointedly on the top of her head through the mane of crimson black hair and the similarly colored tail that swished lightly behind her. These body modifications were what set the Crimson Wolves apart from the rest of the world, especially the other gangs.

Body modifications were a common thing in Amelia. People would come from all over the world to get their own set of animal limbs. It was a genetic process created by a Doctor Dayton Faine. Dr Faine was a brilliant scientist but also a greedy person. He now sits at the top of the charts for the world's richest men.

What set her apart from the rest of the gang was how her body expressed itself. Alpha took to heart what it meant to be an alpha of a wolf pack and she expected her gang to follow its rules. Though she was young at only the age of 19 and short to boot, she had the strength to put any of her men down if they ever stepped out of line. Like an alpha wolf in the wild her body posture bled dominance from the erect ears to the position of her tail. Never in all the time that Nova knew Alpha did her tail curl between her legs in submission.

Nova glanced up at Alpha once more. For this battle she wore nothing particularly special. Her shirt was a black tank top with inch wide straps and traveled down the length of her torso. It stopped right where her blue jeans began. Her shoes were black with red laces and were partially covered by the ends of her jeans. Nova could see a sliver of her midriff where her tail had lifted the material. Her tail was whipping back and forth. Looking up at her face he could see her dark crimson eyes glaring at the enemy. Her brow was scrunched in concentration as she developed a plan in her mind. He knew better then to interrupt her and moved to leave before her hand came down from their crossed position in front of his face.

"Wait." She spoke and Nova waited. Her tail stopped its aggressive movements and she looked at him. Nova looked at her and stood up careful to keep his ears flat against his head. Alpha never had an issue with her height; it was always how the ears were positioned when she came into a room. Everyone in the gang was taller than her for she only stood at 4'11 and she made sure that every new member was put in their place. It was always by her hand that they learned.

Her arms crossed at her stomach once more and she looked forward. Nova stood next to her and followed her gaze as he waited for her to speak. They had known each other for years even before she decided to start a gang. He knew how she thought and why she thought that way, but he could never figure out why her actions were always the opposite. It was good he supposed, no one respected or feared a kind hearted leader for these kinds of situations.

"Everyone is in position Alpha." Nova said when she didn't speak.

"Good. We'll wait for them to make the first move. We can hold out as long as we need to." Alpha replied as her tail started swinging behind her again. "If something happens-"

"Nothing's gonna happen Alpha, we can win this." Nova interrupted.

"I don't care. If something happens, you're in charge. You're the only one I trust to move this pack in the right direction. You can effectively move this gang to another location. I want them out of this city as soon as possible. I refuse to have them suffer or worse."

"And what about you? You forget the loyalty and pride we have for you and this gang."

"Just promise me Nova or I swear I'll haunt you for the rest of your natural life."

Nova laughed lightly at her threat. "I promise. Don't worry so much. Besides if you haunt me you'll still be with us. It's almost a win-win situation." Nova wrapped an arm around her shoulders and sighed. "We'll get through this. All of us."

"Yeah. I know. Get ready Ambush is getting antsy." Alpha said as her tail stilled and pointed towards the sky. She heard the others behind her quiet down and tense. All heads shifted to the opening of the square and they waited for the command.

Just as Ambush moved to attack a loud cracking sound broke over head. It was like lightning except there were no clouds in the sky. It was a clear morning. All heads looked up in confusion.

"I thought we agreed there would be no powers in this fight." Alpha heard from Zero. Alpha narrowed her eyes at the sky as what appeared to be a rip started to open.

"Unless someone's been practicing a new move this ain't one of ours." She heard Ambush comment.

As the rip in the sky widened black objects started to drop from the opening. The first landed in the center of the intersection. It was a strange creature. It had arms and legs a torso and a head, but it was small maybe a foot or two in height. Alpha couldn't tell because it was crouched over. The creature turned its featureless face as if observing its surroundings. Moments later another creature landed beside it. The two seemed to converse before they took off in separate directions, one at Ambush and the other at Osiris. At the same time more of the black creatures landed and instantly took off at one of the gangs. It didn't take long for the fight to break out, instead of the planned battle among the gangs. Each was fighting a wall of this new enemy that had appeared.

The streets were filled with people fighting these black creatures. They were stronger then they looked and within an hour of their appearance more than half of the forces that had gathered were dead. No matter how many they had killed off more of the black creatures rained from the rip in the sky.

At the center of the square the four leaders stood back to back fighting off the creatures. They all had injuries, but Ambush and Osiris especially because they were the first two to be attacked. Zero and Alpha didn't fare any better.

The fighting continued to drag on. It wasn't ten minutes into the second hour did the first of the four fell. It was Osiris, the leader of the Black Lions. He had been hit the hardest at the beginning. At his fall the black creatures seemed to multiply more rapidly and soon Ambush was taken over. It wasn't long before Zero went down and for a moment Alpha stood along in the center. Time slowed and she could see Nova in the distance fighting alongside Shadow and Cage. In that moment Nova looked over and their eyes locked. She smiled sadly as a look of horror came over his face. The last thing she saw was Nova forcing his way towards her before her world went black.

How long it had been, Alpha didn't know. But when she woke up it was just as dark as when her eyes were closed. Her body jumped up and she stood with her knife in her hand ready to attack at the slightest noise. The only problem was that there was no noise. Only the sound of her growling reached her ears. Her eyes strained to see anything in the dark.

Suddenly a light appeared behind her. She swung around and saw the light coming from the floor. Soon more lights appeared until they surrounded her in a perfect circle.

"Who's out there? Show yourself!" Alpha commanded her eyes looking around for any sign of a person.

"Peace warrior. No harm shall come to you here." A voice echoed through the darkness.

"And where is here?" Alpha asked accusingly.

"We are in a place that is everywhere yet nowhere. A place that can be seen yet unseen. A place where there is life and there is also death. All paths cross this place and where you choose to go next shall decide the fate of us all. Call forth your Wolf Fang."

"My what?" Alpha asked looking up.

"Your keyblade." The voice almost sounded annoyed. "Just look inside yourself. Feel the power you hold within and bring it outward. You've done this before with your own powers."

Alpha almost asked how they knew bit decided against it. Instead she placed her knife back into his hiding place at her ankle. Taking a breath she held out her hands. A tingling sensation appeared in her hands before two solid masses laid themselves in her palms. Looking down she saw two blades. One of flame and the other of a wolf. From the looks of it they fit together almost like a puzzle piece. She swung them around to feel their weight and was surprised at what she saw and heard.

"Your very soul was used to craft these blades and together they create the keyblade Wolf Fang."

From Wolf heard a deep morning howl and from Fang she saw a trail of black fire. There were chains at the hilt of each blade. One stated wolf in red and the other fang in black both written in Japanese kanji.

"This keyblade will help you on your next path in life if you so choose it." A door opened behind Alpha and she spun around to face it. "Through this door your destiny awaits."

The voice did not speak again after that. The lights around her disappeared so now only the light from the opening appeared. Willingly she let the keyblades return to where they had came. It seemed to Alpha that it was either stay in the dark empty space or walk towards the light and find out what was really there. It didn't take long for her to decide that forward was the only way to go.

"Nova always told me to walk towards the light..." Alpha muttered and stepped thought the door.

The light blinded her as she went through, but just as quickly it went dark again. Not as dark as the empty space before however. Instead Alpha found herself in an empty street lined with houses. The houses were small and it seemed that no one was home. All the lights within the houses were off and the only lights that were on were the street lights. Her ears twitched in confusion. Taking a breath, she moved forward.

Though she didn't know where she was going her body did. Her feet had quickly taken her out of the housing area and into a shopping district of some sort. She was only at the edge of the shopping area when she ran into something. She had jumped back her hand reaching for her knife when Fang appeared in her hand. The creature she bumped into screamed and curled over scared.

More than satisfied with the response she took the time to survey her prey. It was white in color with small black wings on its back. On its head sprouted a red pom pom like ball. Around the creature were shopping bags. Finding the creature non-threatening she let her keyblade disappear.

"Hey, uhm. Excuse me." Alpha spoke unsure of what to call the creature. It looked up and Alpha bit back a growl from how cat like the thing looked. "I'm sorry about that. I'm new in town, and uh, where am I exactly?"

The creature seemed relieved as it stood up and dusted itself off. "You're in the Town of Illusia of course. This is the shopping district, kupo. You've just come from the housing district by the looks of it, kupo. If you're new here you should stop by the music courts, kupo." As the creature spoke it had picked up its things. Now it stood with bags in hand looking as if it was never threatened.

"Uhm, thank you..." Alpha said slowly. "How would one get there?"

"The Light Rail of course, kupo." The creature pointed towards a railway above the streets and to a small building that seemed to be where it let passengers on and off. "Good day, kupo."

Alpha nodded slightly as the creature walked off in the direction of the houses she had come from. Shaking her head her hair flared and settled out as she moved towards the train.

The train traveled quickly and she barely had any time to register what direction it went in. As soon as the train started moving it was coming to a halt. "We've reached the Musical Courts, enjoy your stay and hope to see you soon on the Light Rail." A mechanical voice called over the speakers as Alpha flowed with the crowd out of the train.

Alpha wandered around listening to the different sounds that reached her ears. It looked like the only thing this place was good for was the music. She passed through what looked like the main walk way that led into different areas and stages. She didn't stay long in any of them. There was a pull of some kind that told her to keep moving. Her body followed the motions like it always did and soon she found herself listening to a guy playing a guitar.


	7. Do no evil

The third district of Ilusia was in its usual musical form; being impossible to actually escape the wondrous sounds. Then again, no one ever complained anyway. However, the music came to a sudden halt as the most peculiar thing began to happen. The sky around Ilusia grew dark. Normally, this wouldn't be an issue, except for one thing. Besides for the second district, Ilusia was encased in a highly specialized dome which granted the world with an artificial sky. It was technically impossible for darkness to spread over the first or third district. The halting of music soon was followed by the panicked voices of the crowd. Heartless began to grow out of the shadows from nearly everywhere, dropping from the ceiling, and even rising from the stage. The people then charged for the door to the second district, and ran towards the entrance for the bullet train, cramming into the one currently stopped. However, the train hadn't been moving; partly due to the fact that they reached capacity fifty people ago, but mostly because the conductor was in awe at the black shadows known as heartless. As the crowd poured away from the heartless, who had been grouping in the center, Darryl rose from his sitting position and stared, noticing the fact that Thomas had been staring as well. Thomas then held out both his arms. In his right hand came his keyblade, Chaos Star, in a mixture of blinding light and bloody water. In his left hand came forth his second keyblade, Shattered Dreams. Blue mirror shards fell upon the ground as his keyblade landed in his hand. "Hey kid, shouldn't you be running?" Thomas' crimson eyes peered at Darryl, questioning his very soul. Darryl said nothing, but simply closed his royal purple eyes and held out his right hand. Small streams of water swirled from seemingly thin air and gathered in his right hand, before his keyblade, the Forged Path appeared. Whereas Thomas' twin keyblade's were normal sized, Darryl's was nearly the same length and width as his body. Thomas let lose a sharp whistle and grinned. "Nice."

"Thanks." Darryl and Thomas then ran off together towards the center, where the heartless began to gather. Alpha had been running along the outside of the third district, attempting to reach the heartless from a different direction than Darryl and Thomas. She had noticed the two young males summon their keyblades, but made no attempt to make contact with them. She did however; notice another female running towards the heartless from the orchestra's stage. Accelerating a bit, she was able to reach the side of the female before the two reached the heartless. The second female, Kim, had taken her light brown eyes off the heartless briefly, to marvel at Alpha's wolf like features. It was unlike anything Kim had ever seen; this living hybrid of human and animal. However, she quickly refocused to the heartless which she was growing closer to, and held out his right hand. Streaks of darkness gathered in his hand as she summoned her keyblade, Red Light District.

"Thank god I'm not the only keyblade wielder with estrogen." Alpha spoke. She reached down where her knife was sheathed, but pulled out her Fang keyblade instead. Dark flames flickered into the air as she did this. She then held out her right hand, and her Wolf keyblade appeared, complete with howling.

"Wow…" Kim uttered in amazement, as the two women continued their sprint to the heartless. Nick had been running towards the heartless, shifting his emerald eyes from them, and the two groups of keyblade users. However, his gaze shifted again, once Chris flipped over Nick's body and in front of him. Considering the fact that Nick was six feet and four inches tall, it was an event worthy of note.

"Don't show off kid. But I'm guessing that you have a keyblade as well, since you aren't begging the gods for mercy like everyone else." Nick held out his hand, summoning his keyblade, the Executioner. Static filled the air as Nick's gunblade keyblade finished forming.

"Actually, I have two." Chris spoke from underneath his oni mask, as he held out both his keyblades. From his right hand, silver lights carried forth his Silver Seraph keyblade. In his left hand, golden lights followed the summoning of his second keyblade, the Assailant. The three groups of two met in the center, and were quickly surrounded by heartless. The six walked into each other, forming a circle by standing back to back. The six had been glancing at each other, until Darryl finally broke the silence.

"Darryl." He introduced himself, and waited to see if anyone would follow in his path.

"Thomas." The crimson eyed keyblade wielder whom had been alongside Darryl spoke.

"Kim." The female whom had been slowly recovering from her state of wonder spoke, as she readjusted the grip on her keyblade.

"Alpha." The wolf-human hybrid announced her name, as her tail sat perfectly motionless between her legs.

"Chris." He almost seemed reluctant to give up his name, but it seemed like he finally mentally reassured himself that it would be ok.

"Nick." Nick finally gave his name, as he slung his gunblade keyblade over his shoulders.

"Nice to meet you!" The six shouted in unison as they charged off, attacking the heartless. With quick, rapid strikes Alpha began eliminating heartless one by one. Her style of attack was odd, yet effective overall; cutting off the heartless arms, destroying their limbs, hitting them in the eye with the butt of her keyblade and finishing them off were all techniques she had been employing.

Nick had been making good use of his spells; mainly his lightning spell. He seemed to prefer slashing at the heartless with all his might, which caused the ones which didn't immediately vanish in a puff of smoke, to be sent flying into the air like a rag doll. He then cast his lightning spell, sending a massive bolt of energy to descend from the sky. "Lightning!" His keyblade began to surge with sparks of lightning, which lead to him aiming at a heartless that had been trying to sneak behind Alpha, and fire. The heartless was instantly destroyed, leading Alpha to take notice and nod towards his direction in thanks.

Chris moved quickly from enemy to enemy, in one large combo. He would destroy one enemy with a six hit combo, and then connect the next hit to another combo. In fact, due to his ability to move quickly and effectively, Chris hadn't actually completed a combo. He was currently at a one hundred and eight hit combo with no signs of stopping insight. Meanwhile, Kim had chosen to switch between low and high attacks. She'd spin low to the ground, slashing multiple heartless at once, before suddenly rising high once more, severing the shadowy heads of her enemies.

"Pandora's box!" Thomas unleashed his attack, sending a field around him and a large group of heartless. Time began to slow down for the area, as he began to make short work of the heartless. Any which were seemingly lucky enough to escape the wrath of Thomas' keyblades, were quickly destroyed by the black lightning that followed. Once the field ended however, Thomas stumbled onto one knee. Heartless began to attack him, until Darryl made his way onto the scene and began to defend Thomas as he recovered from his massive attack. Darryl fought with counter attacks and a more defensive orientated style, switching between deflecting blows and going into a long combo, or dodging attacks and making powerful strikes at their weakest moment. The heartless had been eliminated, causing the six to return to the center.

"We make a pretty good team." Darryl commented, to which Thomas responded with a high five. However, the celebration was cut short, as the district began to rumble. From the sky, three large heartless came forth. They slightly resembled giant monkeys, granted over sized and holding beady yellow eyes.

"They're like the three wise monkeys…" Kim pointed out, noticing that the monkey on the furthest left had white stitches where his ears should be, the one in the middle had stitches where its mouth should be, and the one on the right had stitches where its eyes should be.

"…What?" Thomas and Darryl spoke together, earning the sigh of the other four members of the group.

"See no evil." Alpha spoke, covering her eyes with her hands.

"Hear no evil." Nick continued, covering his ears with his hands.

"Speak no evil." Chris finished, motioning to his mask which covered his mouth.

"Oh..." Thomas muttered, quickly grasping the idea.

"…Dumbasses." Alpha shook her head at both Darryl and Thomas.

"What? Where I come from, that concept doesn't exist." Darryl pointed out. This caused Darryl and Alpha to go into a short spree of bickering, before Kim caught their attention.

"Um guys, we still have these giant heartless here."

"Yeah, we've gotta focus." Nick added on.

"Fine; let's split into three groups. Myself and Kim will go handle speak no evil. C'mon Kim." Alpha spoke, walking towards the heartless. Kim followed suit.

"Ok, well I'll take hear no evil. Whose coming? No, not you. You don't know anything about the three wise monkeys. You come Nick." Chris turned down Thomas as he stepped up, to Thomas' annoyance. Nick then left with Chris, leaving Thomas and Darryl to handle the see no evil heartless.

Thomas and Darryl began to attack the large heartless together, climbing up to its head and striking. However, it seemed to be feeling next to no pain. It then grabbed each of the keyblade users, and flung them to the ground. They hit the ground heart, bouncing after the hit. "How can it see us anyway?" Thomas questioned after they both recovered.

"That's a good quest- watch out!" Darryl pushed Thomas out the way, as heartless began to pour out of the creature's eyes and all landed in the area where Thomas was standing. Thomas then quickly sprung to his feet and slashed at a heartless near him, which made the creature double back in pain.

"The heartless! If we destroy the heartless, it'll weaken the see no evil! Then we can finish it off in one blow!" Thomas cried out his plan, which Darryl agreed to. Thomas flung his Chaos Star keyblade into the group of heartless, which sawed through their numbers, and doubled back towards Darryl. Darryl then swung at Thomas' keyblade like a bat, sending it flying through the heartless once more. Thomas then climbed atop Darryl's keyblade, while Darryl spun and flung him into the group of heartless. He then barreled through them, wiping out the last bit of them. The stitches on the creature's eyes popped open, causing the large heartless to run in pain as he quickly tried to re sew them. Thomas landed on his feet, just as the last bit of heartless. "Now, let's do it!" Thomas called out, running towards Darryl.

"Limit: Requiem of a dark tomorrow!" The two cried out, as Thomas began to surge with black lightning. He climbed on top of Darryl's keyblade, while Darryl swung him with all his might. Thomas flew up into the air, leaving a trail of lightning as he went. He spiraled around the heartless, leaving lightning in his wake which continuously damaged the heartless and left it in immense pain. He flew well over the heartless, where he used Stop magic on himself to keep him in the air. Darryl then slid between the heartless' legs, and stabbed his keyblade into the ground. It caused a geyser of water to surround from Darryl and cover the heartless' in water and electricity. He then removed his keyblade and swung, which caused the water to freeze. Lightning continued to damage the frozen creature, while Thomas' magic wore off. He slid down the creature, while driving his keyblade into the creature as he fell. Once he landed and withdrew his keyblade, the two began to walk off.

"Rest in pieces." Thomas whispered, as the creature shattered and rained down shadowy guts upon the area. Meanwhile, Chris and Nick had figured out that once the heartless the Hear no evil summoned were gone, the stitches on its ears would pop open and allow damage to be dealt. Chris began to jump from heartless to heartless, striking as he went along. Nick had been casting lightning spells as clean up, destroying any that Chris wasn't able to reach. Finally, the heartless had been destroyed, leaving only Hear no evil left.

"Limit: Lightning Vortex!" Chris summoned a massive whirlwind from his keyblades, which consumed the heartless. Chris then tossed his Silver Seraph keyblade into the whirlwind, which caused it so spiral about the whirlwind and cut up the heartless. As the creature roared in pain, and reached its head back, Nick managed to land atop its face. He charged lightning upon his keyblade, and pointed it directly in its face, before shooting a massive blast of his favorite spell. The lightning not only blew off a large chunk of its face, but mixed in with the whirlwind to further destroy the remains of the heartless.

Kim and Alpha both slid onto the ground while destroying heartless until they met in the center. They then linked arms, and began flipping in mid air while destroying more. Once they landed, the heartless began to surround the two females. Meanwhile, the Speak no evil heartless looked on in amusement. The amusement quickly faded however, as the heartless were destroyed as quickly as they were summoned. The heartless' stitches finally popped off its mouth, leaving it vulnerable. "Limit: Red light howl!" The two cried out. Kim pointed her keyblade at the Speak no evil, as her eyes turned a darker shade of brown. An orb of dark red energy shot from keyblade, and began to encircle and paralyze the heartless as it traveled upward towards its head. Alpha had ascended up to the top of the heartless, and tossed her Wolf keyblade into the orb. The result was a dazzling red light, which took the form of a saw and split the heartless in two. The keyblade landed on the ground, releasing the light in a massive blast that consumed the Speak no evil, leaving an echo of a wolf's howl in the sky. The six regrouped in the center of the district, which was almost immediately refilled with the crowd of people. They had been praising the six, and even offered a house up for the six to stay at; an offer they gladly accepted.

"Have you guys ever tried mixing peanut butter and jelly? It's fucking delicious!" Chris stated on their way to their new residence. This earned the blank stare of the entire group. "What? I wasn't sure if everyone's worlds contained that."

"Even Agrabah has peanut butter and jelly." Kim muttered.

"You know what. We're like…a group now…no…a club. Yes, a keyblade club. A club that should have breakfast." Thomas thought aloud. The six arrived at the new house, where they spent a week within the town talking and learning more about each other. They learned about each of their worlds and where they came from. They learned Darryl was a prince, which was pointed out by Thomas and Kim reading the engraving on his armor. Ever since Alpha learned this fact, the teasing hasn't stopped since. Alpha was given the nickname 'Wolfie' by Kim, due to her wolf like features. The others continued to call her Wolfie as well, considering that she didn't mind as much. Thomas learned Wolfie didn't appreciate being hit on, a fact learned via a swift kick in the balls. Chris also learned that Kim didn't like the word whore, especially due to her past occupation, and receiving a strong hit to the nose once he called her that. They also learned that Nick enjoyed showing off his tongue ring, and they learned the groups like and dislikes. Overall, they bonded rather quickly. As Darryl continuously stated within the week; they were all connected by the key.

"Keyblade users! You've got to see this! Kupo!" A moogles had floated down to their house on their eight day in Ilusia, causing each of them to spring out of their cozy beds and head towards the middle of the second district. A black portal of swirling dark energy had formed in the center of the town.

"Well…shall we?" Nick questioned. The group nodded, waved goodbye to Ilusia, and the six stepped through the portal. All went black, and they found themselves in front of a shrine.

"Urameshi…who are these people?" A tall male asked. He had an orange pompadour, and small black eyes. "I dunno…let's get rid of 'em." The male referred to as Urameshi agreed. However, just as the two began to attack, they were halted by a floating baby whom had walked out of the shrine. Somehow, he explained that he knew who they were, and brought them into the shrine. He explained to the group, which had been larger within the shrine of who the keyblade users were, and introduced themselves. Kurama, Yusuke, Hiei, Kuwabara, Genkai, and Jin were the main fighters there apparently, and the baby known as Koenma seemed to think that the keyblade users were supposed to help take care of these 'Saint Beast' and fight in the 'Makai Tournament'.

"Ok, Kurama and Darryl handle this nobody creature, Wolfie and Hiei go handle Genbu, Nick and Yusuke go handle this heartless thing, Kuwabara and Thomas go handle Suzaku, Kim and Jin go fight Seiryu, and Chris and Genkai will go fight Byakko. Meet back at the cave which holds the barrier from this world to Makai. Go, go go!" Although they were not happy with taking orders from a baby, the twelve left the shrine in separate directions, to fight their enemies.


	8. Mala Suerte

Kurama and Darryl calmly walked down the stairs of the shrine owned by Genkai. Now that the two were alone, Darryl had more time to fully examine Kurama's features. His hair was a deep, fiery red color, which extended well down his back. Like his newly found friend, Nick, Kurama too had emerald green eyes, although Kurama's seemed slightly brighter. He was tall, around Darryl's five foot ten height, but seemed significantly less toned than Darryl. He had been wearing a yellow fighter's gi, which was buckled at the collar, sleeveless, and extended into a long half skirt in the front and back. It allowed two tails to overlap his snow white pants. He also wore black shoes, and had a white shirt underneath his yellow fighter's gi, giving his arms covering via long sleeves. Overall, Darryl noted that despite the fact that from a distance his eyes deceived him into thinking Kurama was a developmentally unblessed female, Kurama was more than likely considered attractive by a female's point of view. Kurama's very essence leaked out intellect, which was supported by his diction and voice overall.

"So you say you're a demon?" Darryl questioned. The two had made it a few miles away from the shrine, which is a significant feat considering how large Genkai's residence actually was.

"Well, something like that yes. Right now, I'm human. Kurama is actually my demon name." Kurama's explanation caused Darryl to become visibly confused. "I am originally, and actually a fox demon known as Yoko Kurama. However, I was injured and forced to implant my soul into the body of Suichi Minamino before he was born. So now, in the simplest form I am a hybrid. This is my human form, but I also have a demon form."

"Ok…now I think I'm getting it. So these saint beasts are demons too?"

"Yes. In actuality, they were defeated in previous years by us. I have no idea how they are back again, but I'm betting these creatures from your world may be the root of the cause. What are they again?" Darryl enjoyed Kurama's company, especially his intellect and the fact that his was matched, if not exceeded.

"Heartless and Nobodies. The black creatures are known as heartless, and are basically tainted hearts with no body. The white creatures are nobodies, and are the opposite of heartless; they are bodies without hearts. Usually, when a strong person becomes a heartless, they produce a nobody as well." Darryl explained.

"Ah, I see." Kurama rubbed his chin slightly as he spoke. Darryl and Kurama continued talking as they walked northeast; the direction Kurama had been sensing the unusual energy the nobody produced. In actuality, Darryl had only faced one nobody before in his home world, and didn't actually have knowledge of it until it was implanted into his head by the keeper of the keyblade. Finally, the duo came upon a forest with high rising trees. It wasn't very large, as Darryl could see a riverbank in the distance. "Abandon all hope, ye who enter here." Kurama called attention to a wooden sign driven into the ground in front of the entrance to the forest.

"What?" Darryl looked at the sign once Kurama pointed it out. The words were slathered rather crudely on the sign, in what appeared to be blood which was by this point, long since dried.

"It's a reference to the Divine Comedy. The Inferno, more specifically. Apparently, this forest is dangerous. Stay alert." The two began to press on through the forest, while Darryl asked questions about the piece of literature known as the Divine Comedy.

"Ah, I see. That actually sounds pretty interesting. We don't have that where I'm from, but we do have something describing each of our lands four original kings, and the great feats they were supposed to have done. The king of the north was supposed to have become a deity of water and saved the world from drowning in a massive flood. The king of the south supposedly created air and the winds. The king of the west was supposed to have given man the gift of death in times of eternal suffering. The king of the east supposedly created the lands themselves, by crushing the jagged rock and creating vegetation. It's interesting as well, even if a little farfetched."

"You'll have to get a copy of a translated version of the Divine Comedy, it's an excellent read." Kurama stated. "Also, I'd like to read a copy of that text."

"Well, if I ever get back to my world, I'll be sure to make sure a copy finds its way into your hands." Darryl smiled a bit, before noticing the fact that the leaves of a nearby tree had been flailing in the non-existent wind. He held out his right hand, summoning his massive keyblade, the Forged Path. "Company." He added, while the water from his keyblade formed a small puddle upon the ground. Four creatures dropped from the trees and landed in a circle around the two heroes, surrounding them. The creatures were demons; each with pale blue skin, sharp talons, pointed ears, and a large horn upon their heads.

"Get them!" One of the creatures shouted; its coal-like eyes glued to the two. The four lunged at the two. Kurama began to stick his right hand into his hair, but was stopped by Darryl's hand.

"I'll handle this." He circled around Kurama's back, severing one of the heads of the demons with a quick strike. He continued his circular movement until he was in front of the second demon. This demon swung, forcing Darryl to sidestep to avoid the blow. He then retaliated, by driving his keyblade into the demon's side and splitting it in two. Darryl then tossed his keyblade, which carried the other two demons into a tree. The keyblade wedged into the tree, trapping the two. Darryl quickly made his way over to the tree, grabbed the handle of his keyblade, and then slashed through both the tree and the remaining two demons. He released his keyblade, and returned to his position next to Kurama.

"Impressive." Kurama spoke, while glancing at the trails of water which had formed from Darryl swinging his weapon. "In your land, you're from the north aren't you?"

"Huh? How did you know?" Darryl questioned. Kurama simply shrugged.

"Lucky guess." The two continued into the forest, until they had reached the riverbank. The area was simply grass covered, with a river in front of it and the trees from the forest fading into the background. "That's odd. The energy I was tracking pointed me here…" Just as Kurama finished speaking, a pinkish-blue light engulfed the way back into the forest. Darryl and Kurama both walked up to the light, but once Darryl reached his hand out to touch it, he was burnt slightly. "Looks like we're trapped." Darryl had been rapidly running his right hand through the air in order to cool the burn off.

"So now what? We can't get through this barrier." Darryl finally managed to cool his hand down, just in time to see the river begin to bubble over. Busting out the river came forth a large, pasty white being. It was ten feet tall, with overall lanky limbs. It had no eyes, and its mouth appeared like a zipper. It also had pointy ears, like the demons of the world the two were currently in. "A nobody." Darryl summoned his keyblade and prepared for battle. Kurama followed suit; reaching his hand into his hair and withdrawing a single rose. He made a whipping motion, while calling out the words "Rose Whip." The rose changed forms to a whip, which appeared to be constructed of a large rose stem, complete with thorns. "Nice." Darryl commented. However, he quickly became serious again when he noticed that the creature had opened its mouth wide, sending out an onslaught of lesser nobodies out into the battle. "Whoa boy."

Darryl charged from his position, jumping directly into the pile. Kurama stood a bit further from the crowd than Darryl, using his added range to fight from a distance. "There's so many of them!" Darryl exclaimed, as he continued his slashing frenzy. A nobody had attacked Darryl, whom dodged by quickly spinning until he stood at the creature's back. He then unleashed a twelve hit combo that took out not only the nobody that had assaulted him, but several others in the area.

"Darryl, move!" Kurama had been soaring over Darryl's head into the center of the crowd. In order to quickly move out the way, Darryl stabbed his keyblade into the ground and grabbed the handle of the keyblade tightly. He then flipped up onto the top of the handle, and jumped as high as his legs could carry him. He soared above Kurama, and then resummoned his keyblade back into his arms. "Rose whiplash!" Kurama began spinning in a circle, while his Rose Whip lashed out in every different direction. He wiped out at least half of the nobodies numbers once he finished his attack. Meanwhile, Darryl had gathered energy while in midair. He swung his keyblade in an upward crescent movement, until his keyblade was pointing straight up. Water began to swirl around him, and once Darryl landed upon the ground, he immediately swung his keyblade.

"Frozen Requiem!" Darryl cried out the name of his attack, as water rushed out his keyblade to cover the area. He managed to control its influence, so that it avoided Kurama by leaving a dry circle around him. The water then froze, turning the ground into a frozen tundra briefly, before it shattered. The two's consecutive attacks left only the ten foot nobody left. Silence fell upon the area, before Darryl broke it by attacking. Once he was within striking range, the nobody flung out one of its long, slender arms. Darryl was able to successfully dodge the attack, but quickly noticed a foot flying towards his face. Darryl swung his keyblade at the foot, causing the two to collide. Darryl was driven back a bit, before he was finally able to push off the attack. Darryl then charged once more, delivering a strong hit to the nobody's side. It bellowed a bit, before managing to land a surprise punch to Darryl's chest. He flew back and slid upon the ground, continuing to do so before Kurama caught him with his foot. "Thanks."

Kurama then charged the nobody, wrapping his whip around the nobody's arm. The thorns upon the whip punctured the creature's arm. Kurama tossed a tiny pebble into the creature's wounds, before backing up a few feet. He then held his right hand palm up, and began to glow a slight red tone. A few tiny flowers popped out of the wound, before falling over dead. "Damn. This creature has no blood."

"Of course not! It doesn't even posses a heart. Why?"

"That attack I just attempted to use…it only works if it mixes with the creature's blood."

"I've got an idea." Darryl then ran full speed at the nobody, until he was inches away from the nobody. He then went into a slid worthy of a major league baseball player, and slid next to the river. He dipped his keyblade into the water. "Aqua blade!" The water swirled around his keyblade, giving the appearance of a water spout. Kurama then wrapped his whip around both of the creature's hands, preventing it from moving. This gave Darryl enough time to navigate back to the front of the nobody, and perform an upwards stab. This caused the water spout to release, slamming into the creature's body and propelling it upward. Kurama unraveled his whip just in time, allowing the creature to soar high into the sky before landing hard upon the ground; creating a small crater. Much to the two's surprise however, the nobody stood it. Although it looked injured, the ten foot giant was able to continue the fight. It reared back and opened its mouth wide, spewing out an onslaught of lesser, heartless sized nobodies wit numbers greater than the last. Darryl and Kurama backed up to each other, before running off to attack.

"Petals and thorns!" Kurama unleashed a whirlwind of razor sharp rose petals, which began to cut anything that walked into his path. While his attack was surrounding him, Kurama began planting seeds in various places within the ground. Meanwhile, Darryl had been slaying nobodies as fast as he could, stringing various hits into long combos, and all the while gathering energy. Kurama's petals and thorns finally wore out, and he backed up to the center of the nobodies. Darryl soon found himself pushed back to the center as well, next to Kurama, only to find that the ten foot nobody had summoned more of the small nobodies. "I've got something set up.

"So do I." The two quickly whispered their next move to each other, and created a plan of attack. Kurama began to be surrounded by rose petals, while Darryl became engulfed in an icy fog.

"Limit: Frozen forest!" The two shouted. Kurama got on one knee, and placed his right hand on the ground. From the ground, all over the river bank, roots and tree trunks shot out. They caught the nobodies off guard, and began to raise half of them into the air. Darryl planted his keyblade into the ground, mimicking Kurama's tree trunks and roots, except for the fact that they were composed of ice instead of being actual trees. Every single one of the nobodies, including the ten foot tall one, were propelled high into the air. The ice and normal trees formed sharp branches, which skewered the nobodies and destroyed them. They then formed Cherry Blossoms, luscious green leaves, and icicle shards on the branches.

"Mala Suerte…" Darryl muttered under his breath, as Cherry blossoms, leaves, icicles, and snowflakes all fell from the trees and into the area. Overall, the technique was as beautiful as it was deadly. The barrier collapsed, and the two began to walk off back into the forest, and towards the cave they were supposed to be meeting at.

"I didn't know you knew Spanish." Kurama pointed out.

"Well, I don't know a lot. I know a little in three other languages, but not enough to be fluent."

"Impressive." Kurama and Darryl had been fighting for so long, that by the time they reached the entrance to the tunnel which connected the cave to the outside, it was already night fall.

"Why are we meeting in this cave anyway?" Darryl questioned, as the two made their way through the tunnel. "What's here?"

"The entrance to Makai. Demon world." Kurama informed Darryl. "Demon world is currently run by Enki, the winner of the last Demon World Tournament. However, he's decided that the entire demon world is too large for only him to run, and is hosting this secondary tournament to find who will help him rule. We're going to fight in it…for fun of course. That's why we invited all of you as well. None of us have any intention on ruling Makai…well, Hiei may. But this is mostly to test our abilities. Plus, from what I hear, these heartless and nobody creatures have appeared in Makai as well.

"You think they'll be in the tournament?" Darryl questioned.

"More than likely. Such a high concentration of energy is tempting for any creature, especially one as primal as those." Kurama stated, as Darryl and Kurama passed the entrance to the cave. Despite being rather large, it appeared like any other cave minus a few exceptions. While being composed completely of rock, there was a small river that ran slightly passed the center. The most peculiar thing however, was the large black abyss at the end of the cave.

"I guess we're the first ones here." Darryl pointed out.

"I suppose we'll be waiting then." Kurama picked a nearby rock to sit on, and rest. Darryl found one as well, and plopped down next to Kurama.

"…Nice tattoo." Kurama noticed the word 'faith' scribbled in cursive with black ink upon Darryl's right shoulder, due to the way his cape like cloak had brushed aside. Darryl ran his fingers gently along the tattoo, before smiling.

"Thanks. It's the one thing you can't live without. Faith…"


	9. Baka Onna

Alpha, or rather Wolfie as she had nicknamed, walked along side Hiei. Where they were going she didn't know, but he seemed to. The two were about the same height, though Wolfie was slightly taller because of her wolf ears. It was only slight because Hiei's hair had the same effect. They hadn't spoken during their walk and it seemed to suit them both. Wolfie of course snuck glances at the red eyed demon wondering if he really was a demon.

Many had considered Alpha a demon. Mostly those who fell at her hand, both enemies and her own when they chose to ignore her rules. How she looked didn't matter though, it was her strict leadership and aggressive nature that got her to where she had been. Leader of the Crimson Wolves. Of course there was another, more definite reason why she was even accepted as the leader...

After the near hundredth glance at him, Hiei stopped and openly glared at Wolfie. "What are you looking at baka onna?"

"Are you a demon?" She bluntly asked as her left ear went off to the side in a confused manner.

"Of course I am, but you're not." Hiei responded pointing at her ears and tail. "Hn. Those are fake."

Wolfie crossed her arms and gave her own glare at him. "So, at least one of us looks like a demon." She responded childishly at him and stuck her tongue out.

"How did I manage to get partnered up with you?" He sneered and stomped away in his usual cold prance.

Alpha followed him with her eyes and for a moment they lit up with mischief. Looking up she saw the bright rays of sunlight filter in through the trees. They had walked further into the forest away from Genkai's shrine and towards a more rocky terrain. From what had been explained earlier they were looking for a rock demon named Genbu. Wolfie didn't know how a demon could be made out of rocks, but she didn't question it. After all, she could summon two hunks of keyblade metal whenever she wanted.

Holding up her hands she focused on a natural power she possessed. In her world, there were people who had elemental powers given to them at birth. They were derived from the four gods of old. There was the god of the moon, the god of sun, the god of the rising and setting sun and the god of darkness. The powers were broken into four categories. Solar, Lunar, Twilight/Dawn, and Eclipse. Alpha was given the powers of the sun. She could manipulate the sun's rays to a varying degree of heat. From the spring warmth to summer scorches to oven baking temperatures. All aimed at precise locations. If the light is from the natural sun she could even bend light to make herself disappear completely. Theoretically of course, she was still working on that trick.

With her hands in front of her she smirked and evil smirk. "You're too cold Hiei; they just wanted you to warm up." As she finished her sentence, Alpha directed a beam of sun light at Hiei's retreating figure. It was like a personal spotly from heaven the way it hit him from above. The temperature was enough to make a man sweat in moments before the natural occurrence of a sun burn began to take affect.

Hiei had stopped in his tracks when the spot light hit him. Thinking there was a further attack he turned at Wolfie with his hand on the hilt of his Katana. He quickly realized that there was no other attack and stood up straight with a haughty smirk on his face. The heat had absolutely no affect on the fire demon. Though his clothes spoke something different as they started to smoke.

Wolfie's smile faded as she noticed him not flinching to the extreme heat. Keeping her focus on the light she moved forward to get a better look at him. Trotting around him she looked closely. He was burning, not even breaking a sweat. Curiously she stuck her hand in the beam of light. Maybe she had lost her touch after a week in Ilusia. The sun seemed to be nonexistent. The town was always in a constant haze of twilight and darkness. Almost instantly she pulled her hand back and stuck her fingers in her mouth. It was definitely hot in there, so why did he look so...comfortable?

"What kind of demon are you exactly?" She asked glaring at him accusingly. As the smell of burning clothes reached her nose she dimmed the light slowly until it disappeared all together. His clothing still smoked and the ground was smoldering in leafy embers. Even his hair looked untouched by the heat. Letting curiosity get the better of her she reached out her hand to touch his hair.

She was nearly an inch away from touching the black locks when Hiei's hand came up and snatched her around the wrist. For a moment they stood still before the smell of burnt hair and burning flesh reached their nose. Alpha's ears twitched before she let out a scream. "Yeeeowwwwww!!!"

She snatched her arm back and out of his hand and she fell back on her bum proficiently landing on her tail. Her ears were pressed back against her skull as she nursed her angry red burn.

"Can't take the heat? Don't mess with a fire demon, Mutt." Hiei laughed.

Wolfie growled and dove at Hiei but was simply caught. She moved to yell but then her mouth was covered by his hand. She struggled but a shush came from Hiei as he looked around seriously. It was then they were surrounded by the familiar black heartless. There weren't many maybe thirty or so all together. Slowly moving out of Hiei's arms they stood back to back as the creatures came slowly closer.

Wolfie summoned her keyblades and it was then the heartless attacked. They jumped at the two and were swiftly taken down by either of their blades. The battle didn't last long for the two warriors cut down their enemy with great speed. Suddenly Wolfie was being carried through the forest at a speed faster then she could ever dream to manage. Soon enough they stopped in the shadows of a tree in front of a narrow opening in the mountain side. Hiei dropped her and she fell face down on the ground. She huffed and sat up. "You could warn a person." She muttered as he started towards the crack of the mountain.

Wolfie followed after looking around and listening to the sounds around them. The only sound she heard was the wind whipping around the rocks and past them. It was five minutes past when they reached the end of the path. It opened up into a circular arena like space. High rocky walls and rock hard ground. They made their way into the middle of the opening and waited.

It wasn't long before laughter filled their ears and a loud rumbling of falling rocks came from the distance. It sounded like the pathway was being blocked leaving them trapped. They two didn't speak as the rock demon appeared from a shadowed corner.

"It's about time you two showed up, I was beginning to think you didn't want to fight me." Genbu laughed out with his rumbling voice. "It's going to be different this time." Genbu stated and melted into the rock wall.

Wolfie looked over at Hiei from the corner of her eye. "You guys fought this thing before and killed it, how'd you do it last time?"

Wolfie looked around but Genbu wasn't anywhere to be seen. "We can't kill him if he's hiding in the rocks." Genbu's tail shot up from behind them. It whipped at the both of them unexpectedly and threw them into the walls.

The tail disappeared and the two looked at one another from across the cavern. "Well?" Wolfie asked looking around for any sign of Genbu. The two made their way to the center again.

"When Kurama fought him he noticed a red stone among the gray when he broke apart. That's what we need to get." Hiei whispered back to her.

"Right and how are we suppose to-" Hiei suddenly disappeared and a barrage of rocks rained over Alpha. She summoned her keyblades and knocked away a majority of the rocks. As they passed she stood with light scratches along her arms and face. Her pants torn in a few places. Hiei then chose that moment to reappear.

"Did you get it?" He asked with a haughty smirk on his face. Wolfie glared at him and swung a Wolf at his head. Hiei dodged the blade easily. The howl vibrated the walls around them and a few rocks rolled down the steep cliff.

Wolfie looked around and Genbu had disappeared into his surroundings again. "You won't get me this time. I won't allow it!" Genbu yelled and came at them from all sides in his broken form. Out of the rocks, Wolfie nor Hiei didn't see the red stone from before. Genbu disappeared again.

"You get it?" Wolfie breathed sarcastically with a few more scratches on her. Hiei looked at her and scowled with his own scratches. "Thought as much. Are you sure your memory isn't fuzzy?" This time Hiei swung and Alpha barely managed to dodge out of the way.

She rolled off to the side as Genbu appeared in front of the two. He had a possessed look in his eyes. "You will never defeat me!" Almost in slow motion he broke apart and surrounded the two. They hovered around the two for a split second before shooting down.

"There it is!" Hiei and Wolfie said in unison and dove after the red rock. It was high above them, much too high for either to take it by themselves. Wolfie grabbed a hold of Hiei's hand as they jumped and through the rain of rocks he threw her forward towards the rock. Wolfie took Fang and sliced at the rock. It broke and around them the rocks shined a bright yellow and burst into dust.

Wolfie landed next to Hiei and looked around. "That ended too fast."

Hiei smirked and shook his head. "Hn, so?"

"True enough. How do we get out of here?" Wolfie asked. The path had been blocked so that was out of the question. She looked over at Hiei and he was pointing up. "Great."

Through their injuries it took them two hours to climb up the rock wall. Once they made it to the top they looked for a way back down the mountain. By the time they made it to the cave it was nearing twilight. Already at the cave were Darryl and Kurama talking quietly to each other.

Wolfie was limping slightly from her injuries and Hiei looked like he had seen better days. Along the way the two had gotten into another scuffle that ended up with them in a shallow river, Wolfie's attempt to cool off Hiei rather than 'warming him up' like the first time. It was then Wolfie found out that Hiei was also part ice demon. It seemed she just wouldn't win, so she settled on glaring at the back of his the rest of the way to the cave. She sat down on the ground next to Darryl with her tail wrapped around her waist and her ears folded back against her head. Wolfie cradled her injured wrist and she refused to look or talk to anyone. She muttered about 'stupid fire ice demons' every so often while nursing the hand shaped burn on her wrist.


	10. Headstrong

Thomas and Kuwabara headed down the steps of the shrine, with Kuwabara yelling and ranting about how he can't wait to shut down the saint beasts again. "Hey…Elvis…do you mind shutting the hell up for a while," Thomas said with annoyance in his voice.

"Keep your yap shut short stuff, don't you know I'm the strongest in the group. That punk Urameshi wishes he was as powerful as me."

"Yeah…I'm just gonna pretend like I care about what you're saying but I will say this; anyone that needs to brag about how powerful they are must be pretty weak." This seemed to agitate Kuwabara, as he quickly jumped in front of Thomas and took a fighting stance.

"You and me right here, right now you short punk." Thomas sighed and then walked around him.

"C'mon Kuwabara, we have to find the saint beast."

"Right, but as soon as were done it's me and you!" He demanded. Thomas nodded as the two continued walking through what seemed to be an endless forest.

The two finally came to an opening in the forest where the city could be seen. "Huh…who knew that old bag would have a shrine hiding so close to a city." Thomas said as they continued on into the city. Both Thomas and Kuwabara had been quiet for hours, as they continued looking for the saint beast. "Ok so real quick who the hell are we looking for?" Thomas questioned.

"Do you know anything? We're looking for the saint beast known as Suzaku, the leader of them all."

"Great we go after the leader…but were ok, because I'm partnered with the strongest person around; Kuwabara!" Thomas said with sarcasm as he waved his hands in the air.

"You're this close to getting your head kicked off."

"I'd like to see you try." As the two continued to bicker, they had yet to realize all of the people around them were walking towards them. The swarm of people began to grow, each of the humans had a blank stare like they were there but they weren't at the same time. "Hey Kuwabara… do you ever get the feeling that you're being surrounded by crazed citizens?"

"That's the dumbest thing I have ever he-" Kuwabara began saying, before he was cut off by one of the humans punching him in the face.

Thomas burst into laughter as he then summoned his keyblades, red liquid swirls of blood formed around his right hand then light, his Chaos Star keyblade had came forth from the light, then blue mirror shards formed around his left hand as another light began to flash and his Shattered Dreams keyblade was summoned. "Hey Shorty don't kill them. They're under the control of Suzaku and his Makai bugs. "Kuwabara said as he jumped up and held his right hand out as an orange-red ball began to form from his hand, which then began to take the shape of a sword. The sword appeared to be on fire but yet not hurt Kuwabara what so ever.

"Alright flame boy, I won't kill anybo-"Thomas was saying as his shattered dreams keyblade began to glow, as if it were calling to him. Thomas then ran up the side of a building and flipped onto a ledge high above the civilians so he could understand what happened to his keyblade, he began to stare into mirror's on the blade ."It's like after I said 'kill anybody', it reacted." Thomas said as he stared into the left mirror and it showed an image of himself, with his hair being a little longer and covering most of his face, his shirt torn off and chains hanging from his forearms, it also showed a sign on his forehead which appeared to be a O with an A inside of it, he put on an evil grin as he charged for someone. Thomas then quickly looked away. "Whoa what was that all about?" He questioned himself as Kuwabara had been fighting the people.

"Hey short bitch, even though I am the strongest it would be nice for some help!" Thomas quickly snapped out of his trance like state and Swan-dived off the ledge of the building as he landed into the crowd of people and began fighting them off of Kuwabara.

"Enough!" a male voice called out from atop of a rooftop which appeared to be in the middle of the city, "You want to stop me, but do you know why you're stopping me? Or are you just doing what you're told like good dogs?" The man said as he dropped from the rooftop gracefully and landed without even bending his knees, leaving a small crater in the ground. He began to walk towards the two, his long, orange hair parted down the middle, with two red strands. He had emerald green eyes, and fairly light skin. He wore a short cloak over his red shirt which stopped at his shoulders, gold bracelets on his wrists, a white belt which was extremely large and just seemed to flutter in the wind and a blue skirt like garment around his waist. Along with a short staff.

"So your Suzaku, I presume." Thomas said as he took his fighting stance.

"Ah yes, you would be correct…but where's the one I fought before…where's Yusuke?" He questioned as Kuwabara stepped and raised his flame sword into the air.

"He's not coming but you get something better… me!" He said with confidence, as he charged for Suzaku. "Dimension Sword!" He cried out as his sword began to glow, he then cut the air and opened up a portal which he jumped through.

"Whoa." Thomas thought to himself as he saw a portal open up behind Suzaku. Kuwabara then jumped out but Suzaku instantly grabbed him by his neck, without even turning his body. He swung Kuwabara in front of him.

"You think I haven't seen you fight? Since I've been dead, I know every little trick you and your friends can do, which is why you're hardly a match. You're a C-rank warrior, at best." Suzaku said as he flung Kuwabara's body across the city, smashing him into a car.

Thomas then gripped his keyblades and charged for Suzaku as well. He began to swing and Suzaku dodged each attack with ease. "Hmm I don't know who you are or what your weapons are, but I think I'll enjoy killing you." He replied, as Thomas slashed down with his chaos star and missed. He let it hit the ground, then pushed off of it and flipped over Suzaku, kicked him in his back as he stumbled forward.

"Stop!" Thomas cried as time began to slow, Thomas then unleashed an 18 hit combo onto Suzaku, which shot him into the sky. Thomas then followed, running up a building and flipped to the one across from it back and forth until he was above Suzaku. He then slashed down with both keyblades with all his might, and smashed him into the ground, creating a crater. The shockwave from it began to break the glass all around the two. Thomas stood up and began to walk and help Kuwabara up. Kuwabara stared in awe.

"Tha- that kid is an animal! " He thought to himself as he saw Suzaku get up behind him. "LOOK OUT KID!" Kuwabara yelled out as Thomas turned around only to see Suzaku's forearm smashing into his neck, which sent him flying into a wall. Suzaku then drew his hands closer to one another as electricity began to form around it.

"Storm of Torment!" He cried, as he shot an arrow of condensed lightning towards Thomas. It pierced his shoulder and pinned Thomas to the wall.

Kuwabara saw this and was quickly enraged. His spirit aura began to glow around him. "I've got your back kid!" Kuwabara jumped up and opened up his hands. "Double Spirit Swords!" Two of his swords came into each of his hands; Kuwabara being enraged with his spirit energy began to attack Suzaku, who began to dodge his attacks as well.

"Hmm even with all your might you still can't strike me…but I'm interested in the other one. It's been a while since I've felt pain." He said to himself, only making Kuwabara angrier for practically ignoring him. Kuwabara then opened up a dimensional portal in front of him; Suzaku was being careless. The portal opened up right behind him and Kuwabara was able to stab him in the back with his spirit sword. "Arrgh" Suzaku cried out as he quickly glared at Kuwabara.

"Ha-ha! that will teach you not to pay attention to me!" Kuwabara said as he jumped back and pulled his sword of his back. Meanwhile Thomas had pulled himself off the wall and landed right next to Kuwabara.

"Well Kuwabara, you're not a complete waste of life after all." Thomas said as he took a fighting stance. Kuwabara did the same.

"ENOUGH GAMES YOU BOTH DIE HERE TODAY!" Suzaku screamed as he took a stance that appeared to be calm and harmless. "Prism Of Seven!" He said as he began to multiply two at a time until there was seven of him .

"Oh shit!" Thomas said.

"You die here, now." Suzaku said in unison with his other six.

"Eff that." Thomas said as he looked at Kuwabara. "You ready?" He asked as Kuwabara nodded.

"Limit: Spirit Lightning Barrage!" The two cried out as Thomas used his Chaos Star keyblade and cut open a portal; the same way Kuwabara did with his dimensional blade. Kuwabara did the same and the two jumped into their portals, erasing from the battlefield, one after another through the portals began opening up and Thomas and Kuwabara would jump through and attack one of the seven Suzaku's, until there was one left. Thomas and Kuwabara then opened up portals in every direction around Suzaku as they began to jump through each, and slash him at the same time from every angle. Suzaku was now badly injured. Thomas then opened up one right above Suzaku and pointed his keyblades at him.

"Vector Cannon!" Thomas cried as he shot a cannon of dark lightning at Suzaku as Kuwabara jumped back and threw his fist forward.

"Spirit Sword Shards" as he shot out spirit daggers from his hand which aimed directly for Suzaku. With their blasts combined they completely obliterated Suzaku.

Thomas landed and was breathing heavy as Kuwabara fell to one knee and did the same. Their fight lasted so long it had become dark. "C'mon short stuff; we have to get to the cave." Kuwabara said as Thomas nodded and they began to head for the cave. They finally arrived. Kuwabara came flying into the cave and slid on the ground, causing Darryl, Kurama, Wolfie, and Hiei to jump up and take battle stances.

"Where's Thomas?" Darryl questioned, as Thomas came running through the cave.

"I told you I'd kick your ass." Thomas said as everyone stopped and stared at the two then burst into laughter.


	11. Transition

Two by two the rest of the group came in. Kim and Jin had dropped in from above happily startling a few including Kuwabara and well really it was only Kuwabara, but Wolfie had her keyblades out and ready for a fight. Thomas had jumped slightly because Kuwabara had screamed and Darryl was a few movements just behind Wolfie. It seemed the only ones who hadn't moved were the two demons present. Kim and Jin looked fairly well off considering they fought Seiryu. The two seemed to be a good team against the ex saint beast.

The next two that made it to the cave were Nick and Yusuke. Both were talking animatedly with their hands and faces, reliving the fight they fought against the heartless they had faced. They sported a few scuff marks but nothing serious. They looked like they had a fun time against the heartless judging by the smiles on their faces.

Last, Genkai and Chris found their way to the cave, Genkai calmly and fairly intact, while Chris looked a bit more roughed up. Genkai was silent while Chris reenacted his 'glorious' fight with Byako. This caught the attention of Kuwabara and soon the two were in a heated argument of who had the better fight against the tiger demon. It was quickly put to a stop by the shorter fused members of the group.

"Well, it looks like we're all here." Kurama noted everyone's faces finally being present.

"So can we go now? All this waiting is boring, especially around the sword swinging oaf over there." Hiei looked at Kuwabara with annoyance. Kuwabara hadn't been doing anything in particular besides attempting to call Yukina on his cell phone, only to discover he had no signal. Thomas laughed along with Wolfie at Hiei's statements towards the oblivious Kuwabara.

"I'm with Hiei. Let's go, I'm ready to kick some ass." Yusuke cracked his knuckles and grinned, high-fiving Nick shortly afterwards.

"Aye, I'm with Urameshi on this one dontcha know. My ears are twitching from excitement already." Jin let loose a small gust of air that propelled Kim into the air. Jin noticed this however, and let loose another blast of air that returned her gently to the ground.

"Alright then…let's go." Darryl led the way through the black void that was fixed within the cave. It was almost like running down a tunnel, Chris noted.

"There's the exit!" Wolfie pointed out the light at the end of their path. Once they jumped through however, they found themselves falling towards a forest.

"Shit!" Thomas and Kim cried out in unison, as the group began rapidly falling from a fifty foot drop.

"Spirit gun!" Yusuke and Genkai shouted together, causing twin blast to hit the ground. They continued to shoot out the blast, which had evidently slowed their decent.

"Sword get longer!" In a flash of orange light, Kuwabara summoned a spirit sword, which extended to the length of a pole. He then climbed down his own weapon. Kurama waited until he was at a proper height, before using his rose whip to wrap around a branch, and swing to the ground like a zip line. Hiei gracefully landed upon a tree branch, much to the other's amazement. Jin, being capable of flight, was never actually in danger, and began flying around in a circle.

Darryl had made a slide of ice, which the keyblade users slid on to reach the bottom safely. "What the hell was that?!" Nick cried out.

"Right…forgot about that." Yusuke scratched his head, and continued onward through the forest. Finally, they reached their destination. It was a moderately large arena, with several high raised domes in the background.

"Alright, we've just got to register at one of the front desk, and check in our hotel. Koenma called ahead and got us the master suite, so explore and meet up back there alright?" Yusuke then walked off in a hurry to register.

"So this is demon world huh…" Chris muttered to himself. "I wonder what's around here..."

"What does it matter as long as they have a shower." Wolfie stated scrunching up her sensitive nose.

"Hell yeah!" Kim agreed and the two females high fived and got into the line to register ignoring the strange looks from the males.

Nick lifted up his shirt slightly and sniffed it. He let it go and scoffed after the girls. "Shower? Manly-men can handle a few days without a shower."

"Exactly." Chris agreed nodding his head. "What a bunch of pu-"

Thomas threw a hand over Chris's mouth and held it shut for a moment looking in the direction of the girls. "Do you want to die?" Thomas asked seriously before letting Chris go and wiping his hand on his pants.

Darryl shook his head with a slight smile. "If anything Chris, you're the one that smells like wet pus-...cat." Darryl caught himself as he made his way towards the line with the others.


	12. Darryl's lost days

Darryl finished registering for the tournament, and quickly wondered away from the group. "Ok…as long as I remember the way back, I should be ok. Hard to miss this place…" Darryl noticed the crowd of demons had looked like an ocean, and he figured that even from a distance he'd be able to find it. The young keyblade user walked past the random shops, and pushed past the on pour of demons and out past the tournaments protective area. He found himself in a forest that the sun was too afraid to shine upon. Fierce lightning bolts however, seemed to love the area. Darryl had decided to go exploring, but as soon as he reached this forest he felt like it was time to turn back.

"Oi!" A burly voice came booming from the trees that Darryl just turned his back on. Two large, ogre-esque demons dropped down behind of Darryl; their sheer weight cracking the ground upon impact. "Where you goin' lil' man?" The demons were both at least seven feet tall, had a singular horn upon their head, and had an icy blue hue for skin tone.

The second demon walked up to Darryl and took a large whiff. "You smell like human." The demon was practically drooling over Darryl's head, whom responded by taking a large step away.

"And you smell like a sack of shit. Your point?" Darryl's face had been scrunched up, and his eyes narrowed upon the two.

"My point is, you smell delicious!" The demon reached its hand out at Darryl. In one swift movement, Darryl summoned his keyblade and separated the demon's arm from its body. Blood squirted out of its severed limb, and Darryl caught the hand in his own. He then tossed it up in the air, and punted it as hard as he could into the forest.

"Go fetch, bitch." Both demons stared at Darryl, then at his massive keyblade, then back at Darryl again. They said nothing, but walked away in search of the demon's arm. With that, Darryl then walked back towards the row of shops that were lined up in front of the tournament's walls. "Hrm…patch jobs and clothing stitching…I could use that." While it was true that Darryl's clothes weren't particularly beat up or damaged due to the strong fabrics that his world's royalty clothing was made of, but it still had a few scuffed up areas. He walked in, only to realize he had no money.

"Sorry, no money, no…wait. Are you in the tournament?" The demon shop owner asked.

"How'd ya know?" Darryl looked puzzled, partly due to the fact that he mentioned nothing remotely relating to the tournament, but mostly because he didn't know what that had to do with the fact that he had no money.

"I do free work to people in the tournament. Here, let me patch this up." And with that, the demon pulled out a needle and pack of threat. It took barely five minutes before the demon was done, and two of those minutes were spent gawking over the material used in Darryl's clothing. He then walked next door and attempted to work his charm upon the shop owner to receive some free clothing. And once that failed, he challenged the owner to a game of chess for some free clothing. At first the demon declined, but after calling him a "little bitch," along with other insults, he finally accepted. To Darryl's delight however, the hot headed shopkeeper was very poor at the game. Darryl won within several minutes of the game starting. He grabbed a white kimono top with long sleeves and black trim, along with black pants that looked like a fighter's uniform. Darryl decided he would wear this when he was at the hotel and his usual clothes when he was fighting. Finally, Darryl was ready to head back to the hotel. Before he left however, he was able to find and "borrow" a copy of the divine comedy when the kiosk owner turned his head. Upon arriving at the master suite, he quickly changed his clothes. His shirt was left open, and he kept his metal gauntlet on, but he was comfortable and that was what was important to him. He then plopped down upon the nearest chair, and opened his book to read…


	13. Party time

The group had finally gathered in the hotel. They never actually took the time to fully appreciate the hotel's layout until now. It was rather large, with a string of individual bedrooms attached to a long corridor just a few steps past the bathroom's entrance. The living room was fully furnished with a small glass table, a couch, and a flat screen TV. On the far left side of the living room were a small flight of stairs that lead down to the kitchen and dining room; food fully stocked and a large and long marble table in the living room, complete with numerous chairs. They were all rather scatted within the living room, when Nick pointed out two large, brown sacks behind Yusuke and Kuwabara's feet. Yusuke grinned and snickered a bit, before him and Kuwabara each reached in their bags and withdrew alcohol bottles.

"Let's get wasted!" The two shouted in unison.

"I don't drink, I'm underage…" Darryl spoke from behind the book he had been reading. He quickly placed a bookmark within it and closed it, fully joining into the conversation.

"So are we!" Yusuke retorted.

"We have a major fight tomorrow; I don't think that's a good idea." Nick had plopped down on the couch and sighed heavily. In truth, he wouldn't' have minded a drink, but he didn't want a hangover during a fight.

"I think we're strong enough to handle them. Unless you're just a wimp!" Kuwabara went into a hideous laughter that threatened to make the group's ears bleed.

"Shut up. We aren't wimps, I'm game." Thomas said, after throwing a pillow at Kuwabara to shut him up.

"I'm with Tom-tom Binks on that one. Bring it on." Wolfie's ears perked up as she spoke. Thomas began to question who exactly Tom-tom Binks was, but he decided some things are best left unknown, not to mention the fact that he already knew she was referring to him.

"I dunno…" Kim began, before nearly being tackled by Wolfie.

"Come on; don't leave me here with the monkeys." Darryl's complaints about his hatred for monkeys fell on deaf ears, as she continued to pester Kim.

"But..."

"Please?"

"Ok!" Kim's resolve quickly changed, siding with her newly found shopping buddy. All eyes fell upon Chris, whom said nothing. He did however, give a nod. And with that, Darryl and Nick realized that there would be drinking if they liked it or not, and they might as well join in so they wouldn't be lonely. Not long after they began, Darryl became drunk.

"Lightweight…" Wolfie muttered under her breath, as she sipped another glass of demon world sake.

"Demon world sake is actually several times more potent than human world alcoholic drinks. So he may not be that much of a lightweight. Compared to other humans of course." Kurama added, although he was starting to feel the effects of the alcohol as well.

"Let's play beer pong! Well…sake pong I guess." Nick suggested, after about a half hour of drinking. Save for Darryl, whom was already drunk, Kurama whom decided to watch from the sidelines, and Hiei whom was just anti-social, they all agreed and set up on the table. Upon playing, Thomas and Nick lost within the first five minutes, and quickly became drunk. Yusuke, Genkai, and Kuwabara lost a few rounds after them, much to their annoyance. Yusuke and Kuwabara became drunk afterwards and began singing show tunes with their arms around each other's necks. The game's intensity soared to new heights, as Wolfie, Chris, Kim, and Jin continued to play. The game went on for what seemed like hours, although in reality it was only one. In the end however, Jin won. Of course, this was due to the fact that he was cheating; using his power over wind to blow the ball where he wanted it to go. In truth, no one knew who won, but everyone at this point had long since been drunk.

"Come here…you sexy little thing." Darryl stumbled towards Genkai…and pushed past her. His target had actually been a candle flickering in the distance. He picked it up and grinned heavily, before going to open mouth kiss it. He then yelped in pain, instantly withdrawing his mouth and tongue, which had became blistered and red. In an effort to escape Darryl's previous screaming however, Thomas had jumped out of the nearest window and plummeted towards the ground.

"Whee!" Kim had been running full speed within the room, and then slid on her knees. Due to the design of the floor, it was relatively easy to do such. However, she eventually found herself in front of the stairs. She attempted to stop, by falling on her butt, but this only resulted in her bouncing down the stairs on her but. Wolfie began dancing exotically around Hiei, whom normally would have attacked her. However, even he found himself caving into the effects of the strong demon world alcohol. She then straddled him, grinding her hips into his crouch, giving him a lap dance.

"Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!" Nick began to cheer on Wolfie and Hiei, while jumping up and down high into the air. In fact, he jumped so high he actually hit his head upon the ceiling and thudded upon the ground. Out of the group, Chris was the only one who still remembered the fact that they had a fight. However, his drunken state had caused him to believe he could fly by using the wind. As a result, he went diving out of the window and fell upon Thomas, whom was still lying on the ground in pain.

As Kim began walking back up the stairs, Darryl stood in her path. He had been speaking to her, but due to the burn his words fell upon deaf ears. She stared briefly, tilting her head to the side a bit, and then delivered a powerful slap to Darryl's face. He literally spun up the three stairs he had walked down, and into a table which shattered under his weight. "I have returned!" Thomas exclaimed as he walked into the hotel room, with Chris trailing behind. "Oh yeah, I'm bad! Baddest mothafucka in the world! King Kong ain't got shit on me!"

"What's King Kong?" Kim questioned.

"It's a giant monkey or some shit."

"Well, a monkey throws shit at people all the time. So, King Kong might not have shit on you yet…but give him time." Kim's statement sent Thomas running to the bathroom with a mouth full of puke, although the alcohol probably reduced Thomas' nausea tolerance. Nick had been rubbing his head, which had been bleeding rather heavily due to his head butt attack at the ceiling. "Oi! What are you looking at? You think you can defeat me?"

"What are you talking about?" Nick whined. However, he received a rising uppercut to the chin, which knocked him onto his back and nearly broke his jaw. After Nick recovered, Thomas came stumbling into the room, and puked upon one of the tables. "Not at the table Carlos!"

"Who the fuck is Carlos?" Thomas questioned, wiping his mouth. Nick chuckled, before pouncing at Thomas. He pinned him down, summoned his keyblade, and held it's point at his throat.

"You're Carlos."

"No I'm no-" Nick stuck Thomas in the throat with his keyblade. "Say your name!"

"Thomas!" Nick smacked Thomas with the hilt of his keyblade.

"Say your name!"

"Cccaarrrlosssss!" Thomas said in between tears.

"That's right, bitch." Nick then got up and walked off…before stumbling and falling three feet away. Thomas made sure to step on Nick's stomach as he walked away, and went to sit next to Wolfie. She had taken a brief break from her attempts to arouse Hiei since he had to use the bathroom, and was sitting on the couch plotting her next move. He plopped down next to her, and started a brief conversation.

"I know this is random, but what was your father like? Was he a wolf or something?"

"My father…well, he lived for nine hundred and fifty years. Then he died."

"Nine hundred and fifty years?!" Thomas was taken aback by her answer. "You're lying right?"

"Maybe, but then again for all you know, I could have been lying to you since we first met. Have I ever given you any proof to the validity of anything I have said so far?" She left the bewildered Thomas with that, as Hiei had returned from the bathroom.

Meanwhile, Chris had been sparring with Genkai. It went on for a few minutes, before they gave each other powerful punches that shattered one of the nearby windows. Both of the fighters dropped to the ground, and fell unconscious.

An hour passed, and Darryl found himself in the kitchen attempting to cook. However, he had managed to get lighter fluid on his unarmored arm, and once he went to take his terribly burnt meal off the frying pan, it caught on fire. He screamed and began to roll, effectively putting the fire out. Unable to take the burning hair like stench, Thomas ran out of the hotel and into a forest. At the edge of the forest, there was an animal which Thomas identified as a Koala, albeit slightly smaller. It stared at Thomas; its large brown eyes luring Thomas in. Once Thomas was close enough, it climbed up his leg and laid down upon Thomas' head. "New pet!" Thomas exclaimed, running back into the hotel to show off.

After showing off his pet, Kim and Nick began dancing to music. Nick wasn't able to keep on beat, which lead to him angrily destroying the stereo. Wolfie and Hiei used this as a distraction, and the two slipped off into the bedroom. Chris began poking Darryl. "Fight me."

"Piss off." Darryl exclaimed, as he was attempting to nurse his burnt hand.

"Scared?" Chris poked Darryl rapidly, attempting to agitate him. It worked, and Darryl made one swift strike at Chris' head with his armored fist, which made him dropped and fall unconscious.

"Oh, Hiei!" Wolfie's moans echoed through the entire suite.

"Did we just hear Wolfie climax? Wait, when did she sneak off anyway?" Thomas questioned. Just then, she came flying out the room, apparently realizing how loud she had gotten. Her hair was a jumbled mess, and her shirt was backwards, but she was present and had enough composure to threaten everyone by death if they spoke a word of what happened.

"Where's Yusuke?" Wolfie quickly changed topics.

"Right here!" Yusuke entered the hotel suite with a crimson mountain bike. "Jacked this off some kid. "

"Sweet. Can I ride?"

"Sure buddy, knock yourself out." Ironically, that was exactly what Nick did. He began riding full speed around the room, before entering the walk in closet accidently. It was too small to turn around, and too short of a distance to stop in time. He ended up slamming into the wall, and passing out. Wolfie walked into the bathroom to find Thomas on the floor with a drawing pad.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm drawing a picture of us in my sketch book. Hey can you hold that candle for me?" Thomas pointed to the candle that was planted a few inches away. Wolfie grabbed it and looked over Thomas shoulder, seeing that Thomas has actually a very good artist. She then sat down next to him and provided him with light. However, Wolfie shortly fell asleep and the flame hit her foot. Thomas took a bit of time to notice, but once he did Thomas quickly put the flame out, and continued drawing.

Darryl found himself sprawled out across the kitchen counter, holding his half eaten hot pocket. Thomas' Koala snuck in and finished it, before returning to Thomas' side. Kim's fist had been swelled up due to her constant punching, and she had it resting in a tub of ice. However, she quickly fell asleep, allowing her hand to slowly freeze. Thomas finally finished drawing and walked out the bathroom. In the picture, Thomas had been cheesing with his koala on his head. Kuwabara had been next to him, with a headband that said number one sticking out. Darryl had been standing on the far left reading, with Kurama next to him reading as well. Kim and Jin had been sitting down in front of the group, both laughing. Wolfie had been on the far right, leaning on Hiei with a slight blush. Nick and Yusuke were in between Darryl and Kurama and Thomas and Kuwabara, giving each other an epic high five. Directly on Thomas' right were Genkai and Chris. Genkai had been charging a spirit gun, while Chris had drawn his keyblades. Content with his drawing, Thomas closed his sketchbook and went to sleep.

The next day, the group of twelve found themselves entering their respective battle fields, all of them feeling the effects of the previous night. "Ready?" The announcer called out; with the hung-over warriors covering their ears. "Let the battle begin!"


	14. Quarter Finals Begin

The six keyblade warriors, whom had each won their division, wearily trudged off to the demon tournament's nurse. They knew that at the end of every round, the nurse would be willing to heal the combatants so they could fight in the next round at full strength. It was a relatively new thing, which was done to get the best fighting rounds possible. They sat down, or rather in the case of Darryl and Thomas, sprawled out upon the floor and awaited the nurse to visit them. Within seconds, the nurse was on them and steadily getting to work.

"Apparently there is a cure for hangovers." Darryl muttered as he was being healed, happy that the burn on his tongue was healed. It was hard going through his entire match without any witty banter. The six went back to the hotel once they were healed, got showered, and ordered up some room service, when the spirit detective gang, as they had been dubbed, entered.

"Did you see the tournament listings?!" Kuwabara threw a piece of paper, bearing the tournament matches on the table. The Quarter- finals, which was what they all had managed to make, were fights that took place one at a time, instead of all at once like previous. This allowed everyone to watch, and get a better feel of their competitors. Kim was the first to look, noticing she had the first fight out of the group.

"I'm fighting Jin?" She looked at Jin nervously. She didn't want to fight her friend, especially not so early.

"Aye, that we are friend, so let's make it a dozy. " His ears twitched in excitement.

"Hm. I guess I'm fighting Genkai after that." Chris barely showed any interest in the paper or his next match.

"Yeah, I can't wait to knock that block clear off. " Genkai and Chris went into a brief bickering spell.

"Sweet, I'm fighting Kuwabara!" Thomas was rather excited, like Kuwabara. Their faces were locked in a big grin.

"I can't wait, we're going to shake the stadium and tear it apart!" Kuwabara and Thomas touched fist a bit.

"Alright, then it's me versus Yusuke!" Nick danced around a bit. Yusuke chuckled a bit and began dancing along with Nick.

"Me and you fight after them, Darryl." Kurama calmly pointed out. Darryl nodded his head in acknowledgement, and then checked the tournament listings himself.

Wolfie took one look at the paper, and then crumbled it up and walked away. Hiei then followed after her, and the two went into one of the bedrooms.

"Wolfie is fighting Hiei." Yusuke muttered. The group stood in silence a bit, before they went on to eat and move on with their days. For the rest of the night, the twelve trained on their own until the very peak of dawn, which they used the remaining time to sleep.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Quarter- finals of the demon world tournament!!!" Koto shouted, as the crowd cheered and roared. "As you know, the Quarter- finals are broken down into two days and you're looking at day one! Without further adieu, let's get this going! The first round will be Kim versus Jin!" And with that, the two warriors stepped into the arena.


	15. Kim Vs Jin

The cheers of demons, high ranking spirits and the rare humans filled the stadium as Koto walked into the arena, the bushy tailed fox demon smiling sweetly at the crowd. Her look remained similar to as it had been before, yet it had been updated since the last time Yusuke and the gang had been in the tournament. Her pink shorts were tighter now, showing off her hips and thighs. The light yellow sleeveless shirt she wore was tighter and only had one shoulder. There was no longer a blue scarf or a yellow shoulder pads, preferring to keep those areas bare now. Her black tights and light red boots were the only things that she left as is in her overall appearance.

"Are you ready Makai!" she exclaimed into the microphone, voice loud and warm. "This is the first match of the quarter finals and I must say, we have an interesting start!"

The crowd began to scream, cheering, some crying out prematurely for the match to start, for blood to be spilt.

"It seems Team Urameshi thought that two years of upsets wasn't enough so that brought pals this time!"

A small smile sat on Koto lips as she looked around the crowds, earning a few jeers and snickers from the crowd. Kim's eye twitched from the side of the arena she stood at, crossing her arms slightly and scoffing.

"From the Ningenkai world of Agrabah, Kim!"

Kim's head snapped up, hands dropping to her sides as she removed the animosity from her face. Walking out of the shadows from the side of the field, she placed a small smirk on her lips, eyes scanning about the field with a soft chuckle. She couldn't help but mentally shake her head at the audience. There was nothing but bloody lusting fools and greedy, vain idiots. The upside in this is the fact that she could get in a bit of training and she was sure fighting Jin would be quite interesting. Stopping towards the edge of the arena, Kim made the simple jump up to the arena…or at least what she thought was simple. Her foot caught the edge of the arena, making her stumble a bit, just barely catching herself. Kim slowly straightened up, feeling heat creep up her face as silence fell around the arena. Deafening laughter suddenly filled the arena, Kim gulping and beginning to feel anger mix with her embarrassment.

'Come on!' she exclaimed in her mind as their laughter continued on for what seemed like forever. 'Grow up! It's not that serious! I know I'm clumsy!'

The glow on her face died down but the laughter hadn't quite yet, Kim's eyes narrowed slightly, glaring at Koto and waiting for some form of professionalism to kick in. Koto had an arm wrapped around her stomach, wiping tears from her eyes, and trying her best to breathe. The fox girl suddenly began to sober up as she felt a suffocating heat began to attack her, opening her tear-filled eyes and catching a glance of a snake of fire inching up towards her. Screaming, Koto fell backwards and onto her bottom, Kim quickly calling back any evidence of wrong doing, smiling sweetly at Koto and extending her hand to help the fox girl up. The girls looked one another in the eyes, exchanging a quick nasty look before Koto began to dust herself off, her composure regained. Even with her great love of foxes, Kim had to question her love of this fox girl.

"Well, after that little trip in the schedule", Koto said, side glancing at Kim, earning yet another it of laughter. "Let me announce, the master of the winds, Jin!"

The red-haired demon entered the stadium, floating a few feet above the ground, grinning and waving at the cheering crowd. Jin smiled lopsidedly at Kim as his feet touched the stage, making the petite girl chuckle. Koto looked between the two before rolling her eyes, and taking a few steps back.

"Okay!"

Jin and Kim looked at each other from the opposite sides of the stage, looking at Koto a bit more seriously now.

"Let's follow the rules and have a fair fight", she stated calmly, looking between both the warriors. "You both know the rules, so let's get started!"

Koto threw her other arm up, signaling the start of the fight, Jin and Kim sinking into their fighting stances. Kim tensed her legs as she immediately darted towards Jin, eyes narrowed dangerously at the slim yet muscular demon, a small smirk on her lips. Jin however had learned from his battle with Yusuke and was not about to let her get close, quickly darting into the air as she neared, smirking right back down at his opponent.

"You didn't think I'd let you catch me that easily, now didja lassy?" he asked, his playfulness sounding throughout his accent.

"Thought I'd give it a try", Kim answered back, chuckling slightly, eyes following Jin as he hovered around, bracing herself as he flew down at her, wind rushing at her as he charged. Kim's eyes narrowed before closing completely as he sent his fist crashing into her chest. Kim's tension only cut off some of the effects of the blow, her body skidding to the other side of the arena, her eyes slowly opening as she tried to draw air into her chest.

'Son of a bitch…he packs a mean punch…'

Shakily drawing air in, Kim shook it off, still staring up at the floating demon.

"You gonna come down and greet a lady or you gonna stay up there the whole fight?" Kim managed to wheeze out, chuckling softly, holding her hand down to her side as her keyblade appeared.

"Well, when I see one I'll be sure ta greet her!" he exclaimed before diving down towards her again.

Kim, however, was prepared this time, swinging her blade and throwing up her somber shield, Jin hitting a solid wall of black, a half bubble around the girl, protecting her from another crippling punch. Jin winced slightly, shaking his fist as he stared down at the darkness.

"Well that smarts", he muttered softly before staring at the bubble curiously. "Now what do we have here?"

Jin circled the shield a few times, knocking on it lightly with his fist. There was no response from Kim on the inside, and Jin couldn't help but smirk, coming to his own conclusion. It looked solid black, there were no attacks flying out of it, and his tapping on the dome was the only sign that he was there. Pulling his fists back, he surrounded them with an extremely intense tornado, much stronger than the one he'd used to punch her. He planned to crack this dome in two. Jin began to go at the dome, throwing punch after punch after punch into the dome, smirking wildly as it began to crack. Jin's eyes stayed narrow, a soft chuckle leaving his lips as he continued.

Kim smirked as she watched Jin's demolition of shield, shaking her head slightly at his focus on that and not on her. As soon as Jin punched the shield, she was already dissolving into the shadows, and reappearing behind Koto. Kim slowly slid from behind Koto, in a low crouch, staring at the back of the wind demon, holding back a chuckle. Kim held her hand out, a shadow swirling around her right arm as her keyblade formed in her hand. Lifting it up in the air, she smirked darkly, eyes narrowing.

"Umbra Storm!" Kim cried out, grinning as she watched Jin's head snap around to look at her as the shield completely dissipated. Kim merely waved her fingers at him as the sky began to darken, a low rumble heard from the clouds. Jin's head snapped up as Kim pointed her keyblade at Jin.

"Strike!"

Lightning began to fall down, Kim using her keyblade to direct the lighting. It was almost as if it were a sort of lightning rod; wherever the tip of her keyblade pointed to, lightning rained down from the skies to that area. Chuckling darkly, Kim watched as Jin attempted to avoid all of the lightning, skipping about the battlefield like a march hare. Jin's natural instinct to fly however, made him take off into the air to escape, sealing his fate. One bolt hit him, shocking him and knocking his path off balance, and then another bolt hit him and began to knock him out of the sky. Kim slowly began to walk closer, knowing how close she could get without getting shocked herself. Keeping her keyblade pointed at Jin she smiled as she watched bolt after bolt hit the wind demon. After ten strikes, there were no signs of movement from the red head, Kim dropping her keyblade to her side, the sky beginning to clear as the attack ended.

Koto had a look of pure shock written on her face, yet she knew that she'd have to begin the countdown. She couldn't believe that this human had defeated Jin!

"Oh Jin", Kim purred softly, slowly beginning to move closer, holding her keyblade out and gently poking the downed demon, smacking him a few times with the keyblade. "Jin darling, this really isn't the place to be sleeping. You really should wakey wa—!"

Kim's little bragging fest was cut short as Jin grabbed her ankle, yanking hard, making the petite female fall hard on her back. All the air that was in her lungs escaped from her lips in a grunt, her eyes shutting tight as she attempted to pull air into her lips, wheezing breaths being the only thing she could pull in. Jin slowly began to push himself up, staring seriously at his opponent. He knew she could fight but after that first punch he thought that he had the upper hand. Obviously, he couldn't underestimate the girl. Slowly rising to his knee, he pulled his fist back, the frightening tornado beginning to circle around it, slowly beginning to push himself further up. Kim's eyes went wide, air slowly beginning to flow back into her lungs in a normal manner, slowly backing up and glaring as she watched Jin close in on her. Slowly pushing herself into a crouching position, Kim held her keyblade tight, glaring as she saw Jin rush her. Holding up her keyblade, Kim blocked the punch, pushing the demon back and preparing for the next onslaught of punches. Jin quickly rebounded, throwing punch after tornado punch towards the girl, inching her back before one punch completely knocked the keyblade out of her hand.

"Oh fu—", Kim hissed before feeling a punch connect with her side, sending her sliding towards the center of the arena again. Kim's hand grasped gently at her ribs, biting her bottom lip hard before feeling Jin flew at her again, throwing another barrage of kicks and punches landing upon every inch of the ex courtesan's body. One last tornado punch to the stomach and her body was sent flying out of the arena, lying motionless on the grassy area.

"Oh my, what an upset!" Koto exclaimed, tail wagging as she jumped from foot to foot. "Well, let's start the count!"

Kim's mind was swimming, pain making her unable to see anything other than the clouds swimming with a bit of black. She could hear Koto counting but she couldn't find it within herself to move. Hell, even If she could move, she bet she was way too tired to actually fight effectively. She could hear cheers rise up, knowing Jin was the winner, a small smile inching onto her lips. Well, she hadn't won, but she did have fun, lots of fun. Her eyebrows shot up as she felt arms slowly inch under her body, cradling her to them and picking her up.

"Nice fight we had there lassy", Jin said, chuckling softly as he walked back to their teams.

"Yeah…", she murmured softly, limp in his arms, eyes slowly clearing up so she could look at him. "Next time…I'll kick your ass…"

Jin chuckled softly, shaking his head as they both settled down with their teams as they prepped for their own battles.


	16. Chris Vs Genkai

The next competitors that were shown on the gigantic jumbo-tron-like screen were Chris and Genkai. Chris stared at his opponent for a brief moment,(although his expression was hidden by his facemask, before calmly walking towards the ring. Genkai seemed to be smirking as if she had been waiting for the chance to fight him since they met. "_This cocky little brat. Judging from the look in his eyes he doesn't have an ounce of fear in him. This might be quite interesting."_ She thought as she entered the ring. As the two got closer to center-ring, Koto began to announce the fighters.

"It's one spectacular matchup after another! The Great Master Genkai versus the Mysterious Masked Keyblade Warrior Chris! This is sure to be an exciting match!" Koto enthusiastically yelled to the crowd. The screams, cheers, and jeers of the audience would have been deafening to anybody but in Chris's mind all was silent. The only sound he heard was the sound of his own heartbeat slowly beginning to speed up. His eyes stayed fixed on Genkai. Koto gave the signal to begin the match. In an instant Chris flash stepped with such speed that it almost appeared as if he teleported.

"Shit!" Genkai exclaimed while putting up a spirit shield to block Chris's assault. Spiritual pressure erupted from the ring the moment Assailant clashed with the spirit shield causing a huge gust of wind.

When the smoke cleared, the only thing visible was an empty ring with a huge crater in the middle of it. Quiet chatter filled the stadium. The crowd gazed on in complete confusion. That is until somebody yelled, "There, in the sky!" Chris and Genkai were in heated midair battle. The closer they came towards the ground, the louder the spirit pressure explosions were. The crowd roared with excitement. The two fighters seemed to be evenly matched. They clashed once more, throwing each other on opposite sides of the arena.

Chris and Genkai were each breathing heavily. "_I don't know how much longer I can keep this up. I have to end this soon." _Chris thought as he threw his right hand in the air.

"It looks like he's finally gonna get serious." Genkai said to herself. Chris's hand began to glow silver. Out of that silver light formed the shape of another keyblade. As the light dimmed, debris began to float around Chris and in his hand he held Silver Seraph.

Genkai quickly leaped into the air, threw her fist down towards Chris, and screamed "Shotgun!" A barrage of blue energy bullets flew towards Chris. Seeing that there was no way he could dodge, Chris crossed his keyblades together and held his ground. Much to his surprise the bullets seemed to be deflected by some sort of force field. Figuring out that it was Silver Seraph that was deflecting the bullets, Chris charged at Genkai. He swung Silver Seraph in the direction of Genkai. A burst of invisible energy ripped up what was left of the ring as it sped towards her. Genkai attempted to dodge the burst wave but it was no use. Her body rag dolled across the ground like a skipping stone.

For a moment, Genkai laid lifeless on the ground. Koto began her count. Chris was sure he had won and began to walk from the ring back to the rest of his team. He heard Koto get to the seventh count. The next thing he heard was "Spirit Gun!" Chris turned around only to see Genkai pointing her finger like a gun. Out of her finger came a huge wave of blue energy. With no way to avoid the attack Chris tried to block it. A blue and silver light illuminated the stadium.

By this point Chris was seriously injured. He was using all the strength he had just to stand up. He couldn't handle the force of this attack. It engulfed him completely. After the blinding light dimmed, Chris stood with smoke radiating from his whole body. He then fell face first to the ground. Shortly after, Genkai did the same. The battle had ended in a tie.


	17. Thomas Vs Kuwabara

"What an intense battle…but moving on to the next round!" Koto announced as the crowd began roaring as Kuwabara and Thomas entered the ring. Both Thomas and Kuwabara seemed more serious than usual. Thomas looked back at Darryl as they both nodded and Thomas turned back to Kuwabara who had an unusual smirk on his face. "

What's so funny Elvis?" Thomas asked as Kuwabara shook his head and took a fighting stance. This caused Thomas to get a little excited but yet he still kept his cool.

"Is everyone ready? Thomas versus Kuwabara will begin in 3…2…" Koto began to say as she scurried to the edge of the ring and away from it. "…ONE!" Koto cried as the two charged for each other.

In the beginning the two were exchanging blows; the two were still holding back matching each other with every strike. Thomas took the upper-hand when Kuwabara slipped with a punch; Thomas quickly countered by throwing his hand down and flipping over him and kicking him in the back. "Let's end this quickly," Thomas said as he drew his right hand back. Crimson liquid swirls began to form around his hand, light flashed and his keyblade appeared. "You're finished!" Thomas said as he gripped his keyblade and swung it at the back of Kuwabara's neck. Kuwabara chuckled as he peered out the corner of his eye and opened his hand.

"Spirit sword!" He cried as his orange flame sword appeared in his hand. "Dimension sword." He whispered as he cut a small hole into the air and fell through it, just before Thomas's attack hit.

"_What! He's fighting smarter than usual; I can tell he really wants to win this. No matter, that won't happen."_ Thomas thought to himself as he waited for Kuwabara to re-appear.

"GOTCHA PUNK!" Kuwabara cried as a hole opened up above where Thomas was standing. Kuwabara proceeded to fall out of with his spirit sword aiming directly for Thomas's head.

Quickly Thomas jumped back with the sword barely missing his head. However he still wasn't fast enough; Kuwabara still managed to stab Thomas's right leg when the attack was over. "Gahh…." Thomas cried as Kuwabara pulled the sword out of his leg.

"Told you, you couldn't beat me." Kuwabara said with a smirk as he began to swing the blade toward Thomas's neck. Thomas then quickly pushed off the ground with his left leg and summoned his Shattered Dreams keyblade. As Thomas landed, he fell to one knee due to the injury to his right leg.

"_Man this is gonna be a bitch fighting like this__.__"_ He thought to himself, as he looked down and noticed the stained glass and mirror fragments on his keyblade were glowing. "What the-?" He questioned as he looked closer and could see Kuwabara's Dimension sword in the reflection of the glass. Thomas's crimson eyes began to glow as well. After a moment, the arena was quiet even Kuwabara as he was trying to figure out what was happening. Thomas's eyes finally opened back up, now with a devilish grin upon his face Thomas took a fighting stance once more.

Kuwabara confused and still cocky charged for Thomas. "Spirit sword extend!" He cried as he pointed his sword towards Thomas. Before it connected with Thomas's chest, he raised his shattered dreams keyblade.

"Dimension blade!" Thomas cried as he cut a hole in the air and jumped through it just before Kuwabara's attack connected this time.

"What? No way?" Kuwabara thought to himself as he continued to stare blankly. Thomas then opened up a portal underneath Kuwabara.

"Gotcha!" He shouted as he dragged Kuwabara into the alternate dimension. The crowd now in awe as the two fighters vanished from the arena; Kuwabara and Thomas now in this other dimension came back into a cold stare as the two stood motionless with their weapons drawn.

"Heh there's no way you're gonna beat me here, I know this place like the back of my hand." Kuwabara said as he folded his arms and closed his eyes with a cocky grin. Seeing this, Thomas seemed to get agitated. He took notice to his surroundings and noticed that this dimension was nothing but empty space, with floating debris everywhere. Noticing he was floating, he then devised a plan to use his acrobatic skill to his advantage here. Thomas began the attack; throwing his keyblade, Chaos Star, towards Kuwabara. Quickly, Kuwabara snapped out of his cocky trance and ducked the keyblade and watched it fly behind him. "Ha your aim is horrible punk!"

"Wasn't aiming for you, Elvis!" Thomas retorted as Kuwabara turned around and saw Thomas's foot heading straight for his face. With no time to react, Kuwabara was kicked in the face and sent flying to some of the debris as Thomas's keyblade ricocheted off of a huge chunk of rock and flew towards Kuwabara's back.

Thomas then re-summoned his keyblade back to him. "Had enough yet?" Thomas was breathing heavily.

"Not even close." Kuwabara said as he summoned another spirit sword and then slipped behind one of the floating boulders. Thomas quickly followed only to find out that Kuwabara was gone.

"_Damn…"_ Thomas thought to himself, as he could hear Kuwabara's laugh echo through the dimension. Thomas tried to focus on where the laugh was coming from but to no avail. Kuwabara then appeared over Thomas with his spirit energy glowing a bright blue, and began to unleash a twelve hit combo on Thomas; with the last hit sending Thomas up into the air. Kuwabara proceeded to follow, and managed to get in front of him.

"Spirit Sword Shards!" He cried as he shot the shards point black at Thomas's torso.

"Arrgh!" Thomas screamed as the little energy blades pierced his chest and stomach. Thomas was bleeding heavily yet he still stood back up and took another fighting stance.

"Give it up kid, you can't beat me."

"First of all, I think I'm older than you and, second I'm going to beat you right here, right now." Thomas said as he formed a "X" with his keyblades. "Let's go! Lions Onslaught!" Thomas cried as dark lightning began to form around his body that took the shape of a lion for a brief moment. Thomas then charged Kuwabara, who began to pull his spirit sword up to block.

"Stop!" Thomas said as he froze time for a moment, unleashing an eighteen hit combo on Kuwabara. After the combo and before his time spell ended, Thomas stuck his keyblades in Kuwabara's shoulders and pinned him against one of the boulders.

"Arrgh!" Kuwabara screamed as he realized he was pinned to a boulder and the pain was unbearable. Thomas then began to form some type of crimson energy ball. He then charged for Kuwabara, who used what little strength he had in his hands and used his dimension blade and opened up a riff right next to them, as the ball connected with his chest and caused an explosion and the two went flying back into the arena.

"10!" Koto said as the two landed back in the arena, Thomas was the first to stand.

"I…I won right?" Thomas asked, breathing heavily and holding his chest, as he stared at Koto.

"Actually you both tied. You left the arena and ran out of time; those are the rules sorry for ya." Koto said as she scampered away from the arena. Thomas looked confused and then looked towards his team mates. Darryl looked to be in a type of meditation to get ready for his fight and Wolfie had thrown something at Thomas. As it got closer, Thomas saw it was a rock that hit him directly in the forehead and knocked him out.

"BAKA!" Wolfie cried as Thomas hit the ground unconscious next to Kuwabara.


	18. Nick Vs Yusuke

Nick cracked his neck, letting a grin spread across his face as Thomas and Kuwabara left the arena. He looked across the ring to see Yusuke looked as excited as Nick. They both had been waiting on this fight for as long as they had known each other. Nick hopped into the ring and summoned his keyblade while still grinning. Yusuke followed Nick's lead and leaped into the ring stretching his arms.

Koto looked at both the fighters and exclaimed, "One of the most anticipated fights of the night starts now! With the Spirit Detective, Yusuke Urameshi, on one side and on the other we have Nick, another of the mysterious Keyblade Warriors." Koto looked in both directions and gave the start fight signal as she ran out of the ring to watch from the sidelines.

Yusuke looked at Nick and smirked again. "Nick, I hate to tell you but I think I can end this match only using the energy from ten Spirit Guns," Yusuke said raising his hands letting his ten fingers glow blue.

"Sorry Yusuke, but I won't let that happen," Nick stated. He stabbed his keyblade into the ground and started walking towards Yusuke. Yusuke laughed, beginning to run towards Nick. He threw a punch that Nick brushed the blow away leading to a strong liver blow. Yusuke staggered for a second which let Nick land a few jabs. Yusuke quickly regained his composure and the two traded blows in the middle of the ring. Yusuke hopped back to gain some breathing space. Nick jumped at Yusuke landing a quick flying elbow. He grabbed Yusuke by the back of the head and kneed him in the face.

Yusuke jumped up and fired a Spirit Gun at Nick, forcing him to drop his guard to avoid the blast. Yusuke appeared in front of Nick and grabbed his arm. He punched Nick in the gut and fired a shockwave blasting Nick backwards. "Just a quick warning, not all of my shots are going to be feints," Yusuke said wiping some blood from his lip. Nick flicked his wrist and his keyblade appeared in static.

Nick charged Yusuke in a complete offensive rush keeping Yusuke on his toes. Yusuke struggled to avoid every single swing. He took a misstep which gave Nick the chance to capitalize on the situation. Nick threw a wide downward arced slash barely missing Yusuke. Yusuke stomped Nick's keyblade into the ground and fired a powered up Spirit Shotgun into his chest. He was shot backwards as the blast ravaged through his shirt. He then stumbled backwards and fell out of the ring.

Koto looked ecstatic as she begun the ten-count. Yusuke looked smug as he held up his hand revealing that he still had four shots left. "I really thought you would last longer than that." Koto reached 7 as Nick arm flew over the rings edge. He climbed into the ring and stood breathing heavily clutching his chest. He grabbed his shirt and ripped off the remains revealing his tone upper body. Yusuke grinned as he spoke, "That is more like it. I figured you would be more of a challenge."

Yusuke pointed at Nick, firing a Spirit Gun Double Shot. Nick summoned his keyblade and deflected the first shot into the stands while reflecting the latter back at Yusuke. "Are you getting bored, Yusuke? You only have two shots left," Nick stated as he snapped his keyblade open. He snapped it shut and rushed Yusuke recklessly. Yusuke prepared for another onslaught. He glanced straight-forward and found himself staring down the barrel of Nick's Gunblade. "Fire shot!" Nick yelled as he fired. Yusuke was consumed by flames. He hit the ground and rolled around on the ground until the flames disappeared. He slowly got to his feet, and charged Nick. Nick put up his guard. Yusuke continued his charge and jumped over Nick. Nick was shocked as he turned around and a shoe hit him in the face. He stood stunned for a second until he noticed the blue glow. He was hit by a Spirit Gun that blasted him backwards into the wall. As he slid downwards against the wall, he noticed the blue glow did not fade as the second shot blasted the wall into rubble, burying Nick.

Koto danced around in excitement, "What an amazing display from Yusuke! I'm going to start the ten-count but I am almost positive that there isn't anything left!"

Nick pushed the rubble off of him as he noticed the counting demon. He stood up and walked towards the ring looking furious. He flicked his keyblade open a second time and slapped it shut using his arm. He hopped into the ring as Koto reached 9. "Well Urameshi, looks like you're all spent. Let's see how long you last." Nick aimed down the sights at Yusuke and fired a Thunder shot. Yusuke dodge rolled away from the lightning. Nick flicked his wrist while he fired a Blizzard shot freezing the ring. Nick jumped forward and swung his keyblade slamming against Yusuke, sending him sliding against the ice. Nick fired a Gravity shot which began pulling Yusuke towards the spot Nick shot. Yusuke jumped to his feet trying to stop his momentum. Nick moved past the gravity shot and landed a heavy roundhouse kick to Yusuke's head. Yusuke slammed against the ground continuing to slide towards the spot on the ring. Nick turned around and fired three quick Thunder shots into Yusuke. Yusuke screamed in agony lying where Nick had initially fired.

Koto looked stunned. She faltered with her microphone as she tried to get it up so she could talk into it. "You all saw it folks. I am as shocked as you are but it seems that this Keyblade Warrior has some spunk! Let's start the count!" Yusuke got to his feet by the time Yoko reached 5. He started to stretch again.

"I honestly didn't think I would have to go this far but you proved me wrong," Yusuke spoke as he pulled off his cuffs revealing a set of power-binding Spirit Cuffs. "Let's pick this up where we left off." He broke the cuffs and his power flowed out of him. His hair grew to his waist as he gained tribal tattoos across his back and arms. "I've decided to go all out in this fight and use my Demon energy. I think you should go all out too."

Nick's jaw dropped for a second which he played off as a yawn. "You're bluffing! Well, even if you're not, I guess I can go all out." He said as he looked around the ring trying not to make eye contact. He opened his keyblade to reload and prepare for Yusuke's attack.

Yusuke jumped at Nick and began to toy with him. He started pushing Nick to his limits in hand to hand combat. Nick sighed, "Is this all you can do? No wonder you couldn't win that last tournament." Nick was recalling a previous conversation with Yusuke. Yusuke snapped at this and punched Nick square in the face. Nick flew across the ring as Yusuke jumped and came down on top of Nick still inside the ring. He picked him up and tossed him up and kicked him to the other side of the ring. He walked over and started throwing a barrage of punches into Nick.

He picked Nick up by the throat. "I guess I took it a little too far. I should end this by tossing you out of the ring." Nick lifted his keyblade into the air and fired 6 Fire shots into the air. He then continued to hold his keyblade into the air. "You must be delirious. Did I beat the sense out of you?" Yusuke asked.

"Well, rising … Heat creates … Lightning. I am … Going to … Attempt to absorb … It all." Nick attempted between gasping for air. Yusuke began to laugh. He continued to laugh as a huge bolt of lightning was mostly absorbed into Nick's keyblade. It was too much and there was an explosion of electricity. Yusuke shot into the stadium convulsing. Nick was still in the ring but he couldn't get up. "If I'm not going to win, neither are you, Yusuke." Nick used his leg to aim his keyblade as he held up his head. Yusuke stood and turned to the ring. "Thundagun." Nick said as he fired his powerful spell. Yusuke watched as the bolt came at him and blasted his arm. Nick had slipped when he fired and missed his shot. Yusuke stumbled out of the stands and barely got back into the ring before Yoko hit ten.

"And Yusuke Urameshi is the winner of this amazing fight!" Yoko yelled into the microphone. As she said that, Yusuke fell face forward into the ring.

"Darryl, Wolfie, Hiei, and Kurama, Can you guys take us to the stands? I can't make it and it looks like Yusuke can't make it either." Nick said. His friends smiled as they helped the two combatants into the stands to rest for the rest of the matches.


	19. Darryl Vs Kurama

"Now, let's face the center stage A, where we have our next fighters! On the left we have the dangerous fox, Kurama!" Koto announced, while waving her right hand towards the left of the stage. Kurama had entered the ring, his eyes narrowed and his mentality focused upon the upcoming battle. "And to the right, we have one of the newest uprising stars in this tournament, Darryl!" A few boo's sounded from the crowd, since Darryl hadn't been a demon. In fact, it wasn't the first time Darryl heard booing from the demons within the stands. Nor was he the only person to be subjected to their foul words, since he wasn't the only fighter without an inch of demon energy within them. However, the crowd's words did nothing to affect his resolve as he faced down Kurama. "Darryl versus Kurama…ready…." Koto walked to the side of the ring and leaped off, making sure she was completely out of the way before she continued. "…Fight!"

As soon as she allowed the match to start, Darryl and Kurama charged each other. Although for both Kurama and Darryl, it was rare to see them fight hand to hand, they locked themselves in an exchange of blows. Kurama threw a kick at Darryl with his left foot, which resulted in Darryl jumping over Kurama's slender leg. Darryl countered with a punch with his right hand, which Kurama dodged with ease. This process continued for a bit; Kurama throwing a blow, Darryl dodging and counterattacking, and Kurama dodging; for quite some time. Finally, Kurama landed a double palm thrust on Darryl's left arm. He was actually aiming for Darryl's chest, but the young warrior blocked with his armored arm. The blow left a miniscule crack on his armor. Darryl grinned, before quickly glancing into the crack. He dug his fingers into the armor and pulled out what appeared to be a tiny pebble. "The seed of the death plant eh?" Darryl crushed the remains of the seed, and allowed the dust to mix in with the wind. He then held out his right hand, and summoned his keyblade in a swirl of water. "I guess I better get serious then."

Kurama reached into his luscious red hair, and withdrew a tiny rose. He fused it with demonic energy, and produced his trademark rose whip. He then reeled his arm back, and whipped at Darryl's right cheek. The blow grazed him, producing a small cut upon it. Darryl grinned and charged at Kurama; landing a blow to his stomach with the hilt of his keyblade. Kurama whipped at Darryl a few more times, whom responded by using his keyblade as a bat to knock the blows away. The fox demon managed to wrap his rose whip around Darryl, and tugged him towards him. As he got closer, Darryl cut the whip in half, and swung at Kurama. The blow knocked Kurama back several feet, which left him vulnerable. Wasting no time, Darryl continued his onslaught by charging at Kurama. Thinking quickly, Kurama stuck his hand through his hair to remove another rose and form a rose whip. "Rose whiplash!" Kurama began spinning in a circle with his whip extended, slashing and lashing in every direction. Darryl slid to a halt, and stuck his keyblade straight into the ground.

"Geyser!" Darryl's cry filled the arena, as he summoned a tornado of water around him. The powerful vortex of water blocked the whip from cutting Darryl, but prevented Darryl from moving in for a close attack. Once Kurama's attack ended, Darryl released his geyser of water and went in for another close range strike. The two hit each other at the same time; Darryl smacking Kurama in the stomach with his keyblade while Kurama hit Darryl in the right shoulder blade. The two were sent flying to opposite sides of the ring, before tumbling back on their feet.

"Rose whip thorn circle!" Kurama swung his whip in a circle overtop his head, which sent out multiple, crescent shape energy blast. Darryl was able to dodge two, and deflect one, but two smacked into Darryl's chest and sent him flying into the air. He landed with a hard thud, and remained on the ground for a very brief moment. Kurama began to swing his whip once more; preparing for another attack. However, this time Darryl was ready. He moved his keyblade in a crescent shaped arc, allowing his keyblade to point into the sky. He jumped into the air, while swinging his keyblade at the ground.

"Frozen Requiem!" Water flew at the stadium ground, which then froze. The ice rose high into the air, which blocked off the attack Kurama had performed. It continued traveling towards Kurama, and nearly froze his entire leg. At the very last second however, he was able to use his rose whip as a lasso and entangled it within Darryl's massive keyblade. With the finesse of Batman, Kurama swung through the air above the freezing ice, and landed on the other side of the arena. Darryl landed and skated upon the ice. "Reverse Requiem!" The ice melted and turned back into a pool of water, which danced around Darryl's body and keyblade. It then propelled out in a water beam, and slammed directly into Kurama's chest. The blast propelled Kurama off the arena and into the ground rather hard.

"Nice shot." Kurama muttered as he climbed back into the arena. He charged Darryl, and once he got into range quickly released a rose whiplash attack. It caught Darryl off guard; leaving him no choice but to dodge the strikes. He succeeded for the most part, but he felt a red hot lashing strike his back towards the end of the attack. Darryl stumbled, nearly hitting the floor, but recovered quickly. "Petals and thorns!" Kurama summoned a whirlwind of razor sharp rose petals to surround him as he attempted to catch his breath. The petals cut Darryl's arms up, before he realized that he wouldn't be able to force his way through with brute force. Instead, Darryl closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"_If I let Kurama recover, I'll lose. I'm more powerful and faster, but he's smarter and has a hell of a lot more stamina than I do. And strength isn't the way to win a match. This is going to take a lot out of me, but here it goes." _Darryl began to twirl his keyblade in a circle around him. The blue jewel that resided on his keyblade popped off and appeared on Darryl's forehead; glowing an aquamarine tone. Water began to form from under him, and water particles began to gather in the air. His amethyst eyes focused directly on Kurama, and his tornado of crimson petals. "Water; heed my call! Become my herald and dance by my side!" Darryl charged at Kurama, while water began to encircle him with a constant flow. The water blocked the petals' advancements towards his delicate skin, while leaving his hands free and his focus free to remain on Kurama. He approached him with ease, and delivered a rising slash with his keyblade. The water that was surrounding him propelled him higher into the air while carrying both him and Kurama. Once Darryl reached maximum height, the water surrounded his keyblade. He then slashed downward, sending Kurama flying towards the ground with a large wave of water. Once Kurama hit the ground, the water became ice needles which rained down at Kurama's body. "Had enough?" Darryl had been panting rather heavily, as he heard Koto begin the ten second count. She got to four before Kurama rose back to his feet. He bore a few puncture wounds and had begun bleeding, but other than that he was still willing to fight. Kurama said nothing, but placed his right hand upon the ground. "Rumbling? Oh sh-"Darryl heard the ground beneath him rumbling slightly, but he was too late. Long, tower-esque pikes of bamboo flew from under him. One of the pikes caught Darryl directly in the stomach, and shot him high into the air. He hung there, dangling in the air by only the spike embedded in his stomach. Although barely, after a minute or so he managed to pull himself off the bamboo spike, and slid down it. Once he landed, he made it his mission to cut down each of the spikes so that he wouldn't run into any of them. As Darryl was cutting down the bamboo however, Kurama had been preparing for his next attack. Once he noticed, it was too late. Kurama had been glowing a bright pinkish red, and shot out a massive plant from his body.

"Blood sucking plant!" Kurama's cry filled the arena, as the massive plant approached Darryl. Luckily, Darryl was able to block with his armored hand. Unfortunately for him however, the plant tore through the armor and lodged itself in Darryl's arm. "That plant will suck your blood until you don't have a drop left."

"Not if I have anything to say about it." Kurama hadn't counted for Darryl's quick thinking, and he began to lower his body temperature and the temperature around him. Although Darryl did lose a lot of blood, he was able to freeze the plant before it killed him. "Plants die with cold." His frosty breath was visible for a small time, before the temperature around him returned to normal.

"Then I suppose I only have one move left." The battle had been taking its toll on Kurama, and he looked physically exhausted. Darryl too looked physically exhausted, and his breathing consisted of heavy pants. "I should be able to summon it from here…" Kurama muttered, creating a puzzled look on Darryl's face. Kurama began pouring demonic energy into the ground, before a single root began to form.

"That's it?" Darryl breathed a sigh of relief, before realizing that Kurama's attack was nowhere near finished. The root quickly expanded and grew into a large tree, which shot up around Darryl and began to crush him. This move was perhaps Kurama's most powerful, as the tree continued to both crush and grow in size until it covered up the entire stadium. "_Running...out of air…can't feel ribs…I can't…I can't lose…" _Darryl began thinking, as he struggled to push the tree roots and branches apart. However, as he began to push them away, the tree roots grew stronger and crushed him once more. "I can only do this twice; please let this work. Water; heed my call! Become my herald and dance by my side!" It took the last bit of Darryl's breath to perform his water herald technique. The jewel appeared on Darryl's forehead once more, although it didn't shine as brightly as before. Water began to rush to his side, and pushed the tree branches outward just enough for Darryl to escape. He then ran up the tree roots and braches and dove off the top. While in midair, he began spinning in a circle while water encircled him. Soon enough, the water surrounding Darryl had reached the size of a rather large lake. "Tsunami wave train!" Darryl stopped spinning, and was suspended in the air by a wave of water. The wave rose high above the tree that Kurama had formed, which was a feat in itself considering that Kurama's tree was nearly fifty feet tall. The water then fell down upon the stadium like a tidal wave, with Darryl at the top surfing on his keyblade. The wave completely destroyed Kurama's tree, minus a very small portion of the tree trunk. Once the wave subsided, Darryl dropped to one knee.

"My hair!" Koto cried out. The wave managed to get her too despite her being well away from the arena during the attack. She shook herself off in dog-esque form, and went back to announcing. "Since Kurama is, well, in parts unknown we will begin the count!" Once she reached seven, Kurama stumbled out of the remaining tree trunk. He had been drenched, and appeared as if he had almost drowned, but was alive and ready to continue the battle.

Darryl charged quickly, while Kurama was still recovering. He placed all his remaining strength into a full powered descending swing aimed at Kurama. Once the blow connected, a storm of dust blocked the result of the attack from view. When it cleared, a different figure had been in Kurama's place and had caught Darryl's swing with his right hand. Instead of Kurama's bloody colored hair, the new figure had completely silver and straight hair. At the top of his head were two large fox ears, and he had a silvery bushy fox tail. Kurama's normally green eyes were replaced by eyes the color of gold. He had been wearing a white toga with pants underneath, as well as black martial arts shoes. He grinned slowly, before thrusting his palm into Darryl's stomach. The attack sent him flying past the arena, and slammed into the stands. Darryl stumbled out of the stands and back to the ring; staring in awe at his new form. "My oh my, ladies and gentlemen please welcome the legendary Yoko Kurama! Now this battle will definitely be one for the ages to remember, and I don't know about you all but I get so hot and bothered every time my silver hair hero enters the ring!" Koto, as usual, gave too much information while announcing and quickly returned to silence and embarrassment.

"Actually, I'm simply borrowing Yoko's body and power, while keeping my mind and dominance. It's a new trick I've learned to master." Kurama, in Yoko's body spoke with a deeper voice than Kurama's regular voice. He then licked at his nails a bit, due to the fact that Darryl had gotten some of his blood on them. "Well, for the most part at least." Kurama pointed out that licking his nails was a habit Yoko carried. Darryl remembered Kurama telling him about Yoko, although he underplayed his power greatly.

"So, the power of Yoko with the mind of Kurama. That's a dangerous mix." Darryl prepared himself as he spoke. "Show me what you can do." Darryl instantly regretted his words, as Kurama had been upon him once he finished his sentence.

"Don't worry, I intend to." Kurama spoke directly in Darryl's face, before kicking him in the stomach. This sent Darryl flying in the air. He came falling down towards the center of the arena, where Kurama had been waiting. He elbowed Darryl directly in the stomach, which made him cough up blood and drop on the floor with the finesse of a sack of potatoes. Kurama finished his assault with a punch to the downed Darryl's face. Although it was still for the most part, Kurama's mind, he was still a lot more brutal while in Yoko's body. Koto began the down count immediately and Darryl just barely stood up before she reached ten.

"_Use the power of light that resides in your heart. You have unlocked the first door to your power. Now walk through young one, and feel the power. Feel everyone around you; feel their hopes, their dreams. Now use that power, and make it your own." _A voice spoke inside Darryl's head, which renewed is resolve. The white jewel which resided on the keyblade vanished, and appeared on Darryl's forehead. As Darryl began to glow with a white aura, he stuck his keyblade high into the sky.

"Rise and rise again, until lambs become lions." Once Darryl finished speaking, a column of light rained down from the heavens and engulfed Darryl. Once the light faded, Darryl's eyes had shifted to a silver tone. His keyblade's blue tint was also replaced by a heavenly white tint. Once he lowered his keyblade back to waist position, an aura which mixed white with lavender erupted from his body and surrounded it, while forming angel wings composed of pure energy on his back. A small halo also floated above his head. "Drive form: Angel!" Darryl's voiced seemed to echo a bit as if he was omnipotent; giving him a terrifying yet calming tone of voice. The new found power coursed through Darryl's every vein, and the jewel that resided on Darryl's forehead began to glow a blinding white tone. Darryl glowed white, and then vanished from sight. He appeared next to Kurama, by means of teleportation.

"Impressive. Too bad that your teleportation isn't instantaneous. It took you five seconds to gather the energy to move like that. " Kurama pointed out, before jumping back several feet. "Binding fist of the demonic vine." Kurama's arm became entwined with what appeared like rose whips, which turned his arm into a sharp sword. The two warriors began to charge each other and locked themselves in a vicious battle of blades. Neither of them could gain any ground in their fight, so they separated and tried another method of attack. "Death tree." A crimson plant with sharp, carnivorous teeth warped itself around Kurama's arm, and began to lunge at Darryl.

"Light." Darryl raised his keyblade, which produced a column of light in front of him. The tree smacked into the light which stunted it. Darryl then pointed his keyblade directly into the mouth of the stunted plant. "Burst!" A bolt of light flew into the plant's mouth and caused it to explode from the inside out. Kurama took to the skies with his by using a strange plant that appeared like silver butterfly wings. Darryl followed suit; gliding into the air by using his energy wings. He matched Kurama's height, and the two began to clash in the air. Kurama managed to drive his arm into Darryl's shoulder, which Darryl responded to by kicking him in the stomach. "Curaga!" Darryl healed himself using a magic spell. However, because he hadn't kicked Kurama far enough away, he accidently healed him as well.

"Well that's unfortunate for you." Kurama took a quick examination at his body. While he was doing this, Darryl took the chance to gather the energy needed to teleport. In a swirl of light, Daryl vanished and reappeared above Kurama.

"Tragic." He muttered, while connecting a powerful blow on the demon; sending him flying into the stadium floor with full force.

"Ojigi plant." Kurama summoned a large plant which had set its sights on Darryl.

"Take this soul and bind it by light!" Darryl had pointed his right index and middle finger at Kurama, which shot out a white, light beam. The beam wrapped itself around Kurama which prevented his movements. One of the plant roots nipped at Darryl's ankle and erupted blood from it. Luckily for him, it was one of the smaller plant heads. The larger ones however, were slowly stretching upwards so that they could devour Darryl whole. Darryl pointed his keyblade directly down at both the entangled Kurama as well as the plant heads that had been making their way upward. "Tear this soul apart and scatter it into the abyss!" Darryl's keyblade disassembled and become a torrent of light. "Light storm!" The light beams fired as though they were rain, and smashed into the plant as well as Kurama. When the attack ended, Darryl fell down to the ground and returned to normal. Kurama returned to normal as well, and the two of them had been barely on their feet. Preparing to make their final stand, Kurama formed a rose whip while Darryl lifted his keyblade up. The two charged each other, pouring their all into one final strike. They each landed a blow on each other's stomachs; sending them both flying into opposite sides of the stands.

"Well…since both warriors are out of the arena and downed, I'll start the count!" Koto counted slowly, but the two warriors had knocked one another unconscious. "…Nine…ten! As sad as this makes me folks, the battle is announced a draw!" The reaction from the crowd was mixed between cheering at the intensity of the fight, to anger because it ended in a draw. Several moments later, Kurama and Darryl both awoke and stumbled towards each other and summed up their enjoyment of the battle with a high five. The two used each other as a crutch, and limped over to the stands to watch the next fight.


	20. Wolfie Vs Hiei

Wolfie's tail flickered behind her as she watched Darryl and Kurama leave the ring and onto the stands. She was the last to fight and she wasn't looking forward to it. The option to forfeit the fight had rolled in her mind all night while she laid awake in Hiei's arms. Even now after all the fights that had passed she still hadn't made a decision. Stepping on to the ring she faced Hiei with her arms crossed and her mind in deep thought. You could tell she was thinking because one of her ears was flattened against her head and the other pointed forward. Her thoughts were broken however as Koto yelled into her mic and into the crowd.

"Well crowd we're finally down to our last two competetors of the tournament! To my right we have tamer of the Dark Dragon, Hiei! And to my left we have the faux wolf demon, that's fake for you simpler demons, Alpha!" Koto stressed the words 'faux' and 'fake' causing another roar of boos to come from the audience in the stands. "Let's get this blood bath underway. Ready! Fight- Ahhh my eyes!"

Wolfie grinned as the fox demon covered her eyes and stumbled back, tripping over her own tail in the process. Wolfie might not have been a true demon but she did have her own powers. Her small victory was short lived as the sound of metal cutting through air reached her ears. On reflex she summoned her keyblades and blocked the oncoming blow from Hiei. For a split second they were locked before Wolfie pushed back. Hiei landed back and on his face was a small smirk.

"Was that really necessary?" He asked motioning towards the still dazed Koto.

"Of course. I've been wanting to do that all day." Wolfie swung her keyblades and listened to the howling Wolf gave off. She smiled, now knowing what choice she wanted to make. "Let's dance." She charged forward and the two clashed blades. They were evenly matched. Hiei with his superior sword skills and Wolfie with her double blades. Sometimes two wasn't enough against one. Soon Alpha found herself falling back, blocking more than attacking. For every stroke she made, Hiei doubled and even tripled his hits. Thinking fast, she trapped his blade in her two and held him there. Her breathing was heavier then when they started, though his barely seemed to have risen. Thin red lines littered Wolfie's arms and her tank had been torn across her stomach.

Their eyes locked for a moment. A small smirk appeared on Alpha's face and Hiei's eyes narrowed in suspicions. Suddenly, Wolfie head butted Hiei right where his third eye hid behind his bandana. He was stunned for only a moment but just long enough so that she could jump back and regain her breath.

"Oooh! Another dirty trick from Alpha." Koto hissed out running her own eyes as the spots disappeared from her vision. "Is that how you win all your fights?"

Wolfie grinned her direction. "Yes it is actually." Wolfie snapped her keyblades together and in a small burst of light they fused together. "And like any good alpha wolf, her pack comes when she calls. Summon: Wolf Pack!" Wolfie's keyblade became engulfed in a blood red light. She swung her blade in a wide arc causing Wolf Fang to howl and from the trail of fire appeared twenty fiery ghost like figures. Each ghost was a fallen member of the Crimson Wolves. Each fell into place behind their leader. Wolfie's breathing was uneven from the summon. "Thought that would be easier." She muttered under her breath.

"Impressive, but hardly a match for me." Hiei remarked and readied his blade.

"Attack!" Alpha growled out and the ghosts rushed passed her towards Hiei. The heat rolled off them in waves. They worked in teams. One team circled around Hiei while the other lunged at him from all sides. Hiei cut them down one by one, hardly breaking a sweat. Each fell to the ground in a burst of flames and flew back towards Wolfie's keyblade. Wolf Fang pulsed as the energy receded back into the blade.

As the last of the ghosts disappeared Hiei stood across from Wolfie with his blade pointed at her. "That it?"

"Hardly. Limit: Hunting Party!" Wolfie aimed her keyblade at Hiei and from her blade an explosion of wolf shaped black and red flames shot out. They arched over the ring and twisted. They split into three groups. One made a run to attack Hiei from behind, another from the left, the other to the right, and straight ahead Wolfie charged. She held her keyblade horizontally at her side as she ran. The seconds seemed to slow and for a moment time seemed to stop inches from her attack making contact with Hiei. In that moment she hesitated giving Hiei enough time to move and tackle her to the ground. Her attack wasted in a huge explosion where Hiei had once stood. The explosion knocked them both across the ring.

They slid to a stop near the edge. It was quiet in the stadium as the debris settled and the smoke cleared. The right half of the ring was completely destroyed and Koto was somewhere off the ring coughing loudly into the mic. "Looks like that mutt has some bite after all." Koto announced as she stood back up and dusted herself off.

Back on the ring, swords discarded somewhere in the rubble, Hiei and Wolfie were wrestling for dominance and throwing punches. Hiei pinned her hands down with his own. "Give up onna. I'm stronger then you are."

"Doesn't mean you're smarter. Wolf! Fang!" She summoned her keyblades and they flew out from the rubble. They slammed into Hiei's side and knocked him off of her. They flew to her hands as she jumped up to face him, but he wasn't there.

"Actually it does." He whispered into her ear just behind her. A second later her world went black and her keyblades disappeared. A sharp hit to the back of her neck and she was knocked out. She fell back into Hiei's arms unconscious.

Koto jumped onto the scene and glanced at Wolfie before twirling around towards the crowd. "And the fight is over! Hiei wins due to Knock Out!"

The crowd roared for the end of the fight and the win for the true demon. Hiei lifted Wolfie over his shoulder and walked off the ring towards where the rest of the group sat, waiting to be looked at by the medic. By the time they reached the group Wolfie had woken up in a daze. "Did I win?" She asked before passing out again.


	21. Keyblades

Jin, Hiei, and Yusuke all lost in the next round of the tournament, and joined the others in the infirmary tent.

"Alright, let's get you healed up." A beautiful, pink haired woman spoke to the group; especially eyeing Jin. The woman was Ruka, an enchantress whom pretended to be a nurse in the dark tournament. Apparently, after Hiei and Genkai broke out of her barrier that blocked them from joining the match against Team Masho, she decided to learn actual healing abilities. Now, as she explained after being threatened by Hiei at sword point, she was paid to actually run the infirmary for various fighting events for a hefty fee, paid for by the tournament runner.

"Psst, Jin." Kim whispered once the group was fully healed. "I think she has a little crush on you." She was very observant to the subtle hints of attraction. It came with her job in Agrabah.

"Aye, do you think so lassie? Perhaps I should show her a rippin' good time." Jin made his way over to Ruka and began to chat with her until her skin turned as red as a ripe tomato.

"Well, everyone ready to go?" Yusuke questioned, stretching after being healed.

"You don't want to stay and watch the tournament's end?" Darryl questioned.

"We all lost. What's the point." Chris sulked off towards the door with his hands in his pockets. The rest of the group followed suit, with the exception of Jin.

"Is he coming?" Wolfie questioned, which earned her a shrug from Thomas and Nick. It's possible that he heard her, and with his rather large ear size that wouldn't be too unbelievable, because right at that moment he peaked his head out the tent.

"Aye, I'm gonna be settling down here and enjoyin 'the company of this lovely lassie. It's been fun!" And with that, he darted back into the tent.

"Let's hurry back. I want to see….Yukina…" Kuwabara almost turned to mush when he said his crush's name. This earned a very sharp glare from Hiei, who was Yukina's brother. Granted, Kuwabara had no idea that Hiei was related to Yukina, but he was so oblivious when he was thinking about her that he probably didn't notice.

"So where will you all go?" Genkai's raspy voice always made the group wish she'd go back to her younger form, although they knew that it made her expend unnecessary spirit energy. "Not that I really care where you young shits go." She quickly added on, before folding her arms behind her back, and heading through the portal to human world. It was right around this point, that they noticed the fact that Hiei and Wolfie had snuck away.

"I feel a portal…" Perhaps it was Kim's connection to darkness, but for some reason she was able to sense dark portals. She felt it the last time as well.

"Well, that was perfect timing." Thomas muttered.

"Deus ex machina much?" Nick agreed with Thomas, which cause the group to stop and realize how right the two were.

"Well, I suppose we're going there." Darryl stated. "Well, we need Wolfie to come back first."

"Good and proper dogs should learn to heel by the human's side…" Chris muttered under his breath. Wolfie then popped up beside him and delivered a swift kick to the back of his leg.

"Well, it's a good thing I'm not a good dog. Unlike the mutts you must be used to, I'm not afraid to bare my fang." Wolfie summoned her fang keyblade and pointed it at Chris. In response, Chris summoned his Silver Seraph keyblade and pointed it directly at Wolfie.

"Maybe you just aren't properly trained." The tension in the air was almost thick enough to breathe in. The two then ran at each other and began clashing blades. Wolfie summoned her Wolf keyblade, and Chris summoned his Assailant keyblade, as the two continued their fierce exchange of blows. Thomas and Nick decided that the fight had gone on long enough, and moved in to intercept. Thomas summoned his Shattered Dreams keyblade and cast stop on Chris, while Nick summoned his Executioner keyblade and shot fire at the ground in front of Wolfie in an attempt to halt her movements. This failed however, as she simply hopped over the flames and continued her charge. Likewise, Thomas' magic wore off before they could be stopped, and continued to rush Wolfie. It was at this point that Kim and Darryl stepped in. Kim formed a shield of pure darkness in front of Chris; whom ran into it due to his inability to stop his own momentum. Darryl shot a wave of water directly into Wolfie's stomach and pushed her back.

"Tone down the aggression there kids, or I swear I will turn this car around and we will NOT go to mcdonalds!" Nick shouted at the two, before the six of them released their keyblade back to the domain which they reside in.

"…Right, well after that amazing display of teamwork…" Yusuke began, sarcastically of course. "…I'm heading out. If I'm not back in time to cook Keiko dinner, she'll kick my ass. And TV dinners take exactly eight minutes to cook." Yusuke bid the group farewell, and then followed Genkai into the portal.

"And my mother is expecting me home." Kurama shook everyone's hand, and walked off. He then stopped and called back to Kuwabara. "Coming?"

"Uh right. Later guys." Kuwabara bobbed off along with Kuwabara, and the two walked off into the portal to the human world. Hiei was the last to leave, partially due to the fact that he lived in Demon world, but mostly because he was still spending time with Wolfie. The two awkwardly bid each other farewell finally; with the two sneaking in a kiss when the others turned. With that, the keyblade wielders walked through the demon world forest, in the direction where Kim could feel the portal coming from. Kim lead the way, with Nick following close behind; muttering about how his lightning absorption technique needed to be perfected. Behind Nick was Thomas, whom was talking about his new technique that he learned from Kuwabara, and how with time he could use it to travel between worlds. Chris walked behind Thomas, due to the fact that Darryl forced him to walk away from Wolfie. He had preoccupied himself by muttering about how next time he would teach her a lesson. Darryl was halfway paying attention, due to the fact that he had been reading his book. This caused him to trip quite a few times, which only served to further piss Chris off. Wolfie lagged behind the entire group by several feet; her mind was focused on thoughts of Hiei. She had almost completely pushed Chris out of her mind, which to her was the equivalent of pushing him out of existence or off a very tall cliff. The five soon found themselves in an open field, where they were met by six other warriors. One of them was rather lanky, with light brown hair as wild and untamed as Thomas', with just a little more of a spiked pattern. Beside him stood a taller, and more serious looking man. He appeared several years older than him, and his blond hair was spiked in a slightly more maintained pattern. In front of him was an oversized sword stabbed into the ground. Sitting in front of the boy, was a crimson haired female, whom had been kicking her feet into the dirt. It was obvious that she was bored, but she had been the first one to notice the group walking towards them.

"Hey, there they are." She sprung up after she said this. Behind the back of the blonde hair warrior, another young man appeared. He looked close to the same age as the blonde hair man, which meant he was older than the other two. His hair was brown, and a large vertical scar ran across his face. A silver haired boy walked over next to the two younger ones, and stood ready. He was a bit taller than his peers, but fell short in height to the older two. Strangely, a blonde hair boy walked literally right out of the brown haired boy.

"I wish you'd stop doing that." The brown hair boy muttered to the blonde one, who responded by turning and grinning.

"Who are you people?" Wolfie asked, her ears pointing back.

The brown hair boy summoned a light blue and dark blue keyblade. Somehow, the group understood the keyblade to be named the Ultima keyblade. They didn't find it too odd, seeing as how they all knew eachother's keyblade names before they ever told each other. "I'm Sora." The boy said. The Blonde boy next to him summoned twin keyblades; one white and one black; Oathkeeper and Oblivion, respectively.

"And I'm Roxas." The silver hair boy grinned, before summoning his keyblade, Way to the Dawn.

"Riku." The girl next to him seemed rather eager to summon her floral attacked keyblade, named Destiny Place.

"And I'm Kairi!" She seemed rather bubbly and excited. The blonde hair man withdrew his sword from the ground and held it tight, while the brown hair man next to him withdrew a gunblade. The gang only recognized what it was due to the fact that Nick's keyblade was based off a gunblade, or rather it was considered a unique gunblade.

"Now, let's see how good you really are!" The six new warriors charged the group whom was following behind Kim, and locked each of their members in a battle. They then separated, drawing them into one on one battles. Sora prepared to face down Darryl next to a nearby lake. Thomas stared down Riku in the same area they met at, with lightning crashing down beside them. Chris was pushed into the forest by the blonde hair warrior, whom introduced himself as Cloud. Kim finally ended up in a cave with Kairi; prepared to fight. Nick ended up on a nearby mountain side staring down the barrel of the man, whom revealed himself as Squall's gunblade barrel. Finally, Wolfie stood in a grassy field while glaring at Roxas. And with that, the six prepared to fight their newly acquired rivals.


	22. Sora vs Darryl

Darryl stared down Sora; both of their keyblades drawn. "Why are you doing this? We're both wielders of the keyblade! We should be teaming up." Darryl futilely shouted at his rival, who had taken the time to swing his weapon a few times at the air.

"You aren't strong enough..." Sora muttered, before taking his stance. He stood with his feet slightly bent; his Ultima keyblade at waist level and the point sticking in a northeast direction.

"Strong enough for what?" By the time Darryl was able to let his question leave his lips, Sora had already been charging him. Quickly, Darryl put his keyblade up in front of his chest to block Sora's strike. He then slashed his keyblade violently outward, which resulted in Sora being propelled away from him. Darryl wasted no time in preparing himself for battle, and charged at Sora. He jumped into the air after Sora, and slashed downwards. The attack, which was blocked by Sora, unearthed a large quantity of earth from the ground. The resulting dust cloud that surrounded the two masked Darryl's presence; allowing him to back away from Sora and return to the lakeside. In his natural state, Darryl's element of choice was water, so staying closer to it seemed ideal for him. Once the dust cloud faded, Sora hopped after Darryl and met him with a powerful swing of his keyblade. Darryl blocked it, barely, but the force of the attack sent him off the ground and into the water.

"Come on, you've got to do better than that." Sora teased, while Darryl remained submerged underwater.

"Damn...why is he so strong." Darryl had frozen himself in a tiny ball, so that he could catch his breath. "I guess I need to take this seriously. Although it's obvious that he isn't. No matter though, I can just make him be serious." Darryl unfroze himself and shot out the water with the finesse of a cannon; surprising Sora. "Frozen Requiem!" Darryl had been charging his technique while he was underwater, and used the water he brought up with him as a veil. The water from his technique flew at Sora and froze him. "Now we wait for the shattering..." However, the frozen Sora began rattling around, and the ice melted right off his body. "...Oh you've got to be kidding me..."

"You aren't nearly strong enough to freeze me for more than a few seconds. Like I said, you aren't strong enough to face...uh, oops." Sora quickly covered his mouth, and waved his hand a few times. "Well, uh anyway. You need to be stronger."

"Wait, what were you about to say just now? Tell m-" Darryl was cut off by a large ball of fire approaching him; it's point of origin being the tip of Sora's keyblade. This attack wasn't too bad for Darryl, since every time he slashed his keyblade , water closely followed. Once his keyblade made contact with the fire magic, it turned into a large pile of steam. When it faded, Sora was right in Darryl's face.

"Blizzaga!" Sora's point blank ice attack froze the majority of Darryl's arm, and sent him sliding a few feet. "Now that's a real ice attack." Sora teased Darryl, while he carved the ice off his arm.

"Damn you!" Darryl cried out once he was fully recovered.

"Language, language!" Sora retorted, halfheartedly putting his guard up and blocking Darryl's ferocious slash. He then blocked a few more of Darryl's attacks; putting more and more effort into blocking each attack. Finally, Darryl let loose a powerful blow that left Sora stumbling back a few feet. However, he was nearly completely out of breath, while Sora's breathing hadn't changed in the slightest.

"_I think his keyblade is actually enhancing his strength and speed...can he really be this strong?" _ Darryl couldn't help but think, as he watched Sora brush the dust off his clothes and readjust the grip on his keyblade. Darryl closed his amethyst colored eyes, and held his keyblade in front of him with both hands. "Water; heed my call! Become my herald and dance by my side!" The blue gem from the crown on his keyblade popped off, and planted itself on his head. Water came from seemingly nowhere, and began to float near him. He then jumped back onto the lake's surface; freezing it instantly. The ice became water again, and swirled around him. He jumped into the air, with the water following him as well as. "Tsunami Wave Train!" A fifty foot wave appeared while Darryl surfed down it; aiming it straight for Sora.

"Reflega." Sora stood calm as he stared up at the giant wave of water. He swung his keyblade, which made an orb of light surround him. The water parted around the orb as if he was parting the Red Sea, before it disappeared. Once the water faded and Darryl returned to the ground, light shot out from the fading orb that left Darryl in a heap of blood. "Well, I guess that move was stronger than I thought..." Reflega was a technique that turned the power of an opponent's move against them, so Sora was actually referring to Darryl's Tsunami Wave Train.

"You...will...take...me...seriously." Darryl barely managed to stand as he talked. The water gem on his forehead had returned itself to his keyblade by this point. He drove his keyblade into the ground, which caused a column of light to crash into him from the sky. "Drive form: Angel!" Darryl's eyes turned silver, while a whitish-purple aura appeared over his back, in the shape of angel wings. A halo also appeared over his head, and his keyblade turned into white crystals, instead of it's usual blue ones. "Bring it on! Show me your true power! I can take it when I'm like this." Darryl screamed out. "_This power...it comes from my friends, from their hopes and their dreams. Since they aren't here...well, I'm still more powerful, just not at my max." _Darryl thought, while he watched Sora closely.

"You want me to be serious huh...ok, fine. Just for a few moments though." Suddenly, Sora was surrounded in an orb of light. When the orb vanished, Sora's pants had turned crimson red, and his shirt turned white. "This is my limit form." That was the last thing Sora said, before sliding on the ground until he was directly beside the surprised Darryl. He swung upward, which sent Darryl into the air. He then followed, while Darryl soared into the sky. "Ragnarok!" Sora began unleashing a brutal collection of slashes; most of which connected with Darryl, although he managed to block a few. He ended his combo by springing off Darryl's leg to get above him, and slashing downwards. Darryl plummeted towards the ground; barely stopping himself before reaching the ground. As he looked up however, Sora's keyblade had been glowing with a crimson light. "Burst!" Multiple, tiny lasers shot out from Sora's keyblade and headed straight for Darryl.

Darryl concentrated for a second, and vanished in a swirl of light. He appeared above Sora, and sighed in relief. However, his relief quickly faded once he noticed the lasers following him. "Of course they follow you. Of course they do." Darryl began teleporting several times, while the lasers seemed to speed up with time. "Damn, damn, damn!" Darryl cried out after the sixth time he teleported, realizing that after the next teleportation he would be hit. The fact that Darryl's teleportation wasn't instantaneous coupled with the laser's ability to seemingly know where Darryl would be, didn't help him get away. He teleported one last time, and came prepared once he reappeared. "Lig-'"

Darryl wasn't fast enough however, and the lasers slammed into him at every angle. He dropped from the sky in a puff of smoke; his Angel form quickly abandoning him as he slammed into the ground, unconscious. Sora stared at the unconscious Darryl for a few moments, before returning to his normal form. "One day...just continue getting stronger." He spoke to the unconscious body before him, before dragging him by his cloak back towards the portal.


	23. Roxas Vs Wolfie

In the distance she could hear the others fight their opponents while she stood tense in front of hers. Wolfie crouched slightly across from Roxas with her keyblades, Wolf and Fang. Wolf held horizontally to her front and Fang to her back. Roxas stood across from her standing calmly with his keyblades held loosely in his hands. It was as if he didn't care enough to put much effort into this fight. Wolfie snarled slightly but didn't move. After years of gang wars she developed a patience to not make the first move. She also didn't know how this Roxas fought.

"Lucky me, I have an experienced fighter." Roxas smirked. "But did it have to be a girl?"

Wolfie let a growl rumble through her chest. "We all have our strong points. Why don't we see who the real fighter is?" Wolfie released her hold of her keyblades and she put up her fists.

"Sorry, but that's just not my style. Let's end this quickly." Roxas charged at Wolfie at speeds challenging Hiei's. Her eyes followed him but her body reacted a second too late. She felt his keyblade, Oathkeeper, slam into her side causing her to fly across the grassy field that they had made their arena. Wolfie slid across the ground with her arms covering her face. She came to a stop just before hitting a boulder.

Wolfie laid there quietly for a moment to try and figure out where he stood using her sense of hearing to guide her. "You can't be out yet. That was just a love tap." Roxas called over from where Wolfie had stood only moments before. Wolfie focused on the sun and used her natural power of light. Similar to how she had used it on Hiei the first time they met, she directed a pillar of light over top of Roxas.

"Whoa!" She heard him yell. Quickly she stood up to see what had happened. He had managed to jump away fairly unharmed save for pockets of smoke coming from his clothing. Behind him the grassy field sparked with flame. "Impressive, but can you make more than one?" With that he flew into the air and thirteen towers of sword-shaped light surrounded him.

For a moment Wolfie watched in awe. She had never seen someone with that level of control in her world. Even those everyone considered masters could only control two or three of that caliber. She was quickly thrown back into reality as the light swords started rushing towards her. Wolfie jumped away from the lights as they shot at her like lasers. She managed to dodge just feet away from the blasts. It wasn't until the last that hit just under her causing to her to go flying back once more. It seemed that whether it was close combat or long ranged, she couldn't touch him.

She gathered her wits as she flew through the air and flipped her body so that she could land on her feet. Her knees bent slightly on impact and she leaned forward to counteract her backwards momentum. She slid to a stop and summoned her keyblades, poised to attack. His attack only added to the fire that blazed around them.

"Getting serious now? About time. I thought I'd have to seriously injure you to get this kind of reaction." Roxas laughed and took a defensive stance. "Show me what you got."

Wolfie took up the challenge whole heartedly a charged at him, her keyblades crossed in front of her. Not being one to wait, Roxas took off at her as well, though at a much faster pace. The two met and a collision of keyblade metal rang through the grassy field. For every hit Wolfie made Roxas countered with three. She aimed for weak points along his body but he guarded them well. Roxas swung his Oblivion keyblade across Wolfie's stomach. She jumped back just in time for a tear to appear on her shirt and thin red line beneath that. She jumped back a few yards more to give her room to breathe.

"I'm not usually one to ask since Nova did most of the Intel, but what's behind this underhanded attack? Couldn't you wait until we had a bit of rest after the tournament?" Wolfie asked in an attempt to by herself some time to recover. While the nurse at the tournament fixed them up well, she was still tired from her first summoning. Though she had a feeling that the next time would be a lot easier.

"Where's the fun in that? The real enemy wouldn't bother waiting, why should we?" Roxas vaguely explained. "I'm not one for secrets but this is for your own good."

"Not if I have anything to say about it! Summon: Wolf Pack!" Like before she had fused together her key blades into one and it started to glow blood red. She swung her keyblade and twenty ghost members of the Crimson Wolves appeared. "How about we just cut to the fun part. Limit: Hunting Party!" The summons shot into the air and like a comet they dove towards Roxas from all sides.

"Is this the only trick you know?" Roxas called out as his blades left his hands and started spinning around him. Wolfie watched as Roxas ran for her in a zig zag pattern. His figure flashing in and out of sight from his speed. Her attack followed him but every time one got close to hitting him his keyblades shielded him. Wolfie watched as he came closer and within seconds of he was in front of her.

"Boo." A smirk was painted on his face and suddenly he was gone. Wolfie came face to face with her own attack. As quickly as she could she through her keyblades in front of her and for what felt like the hundredth time that day she was sent flying. This time however her consciousness was taken from her and she fell to the ground hard.

Roxas watched from a few yards away with a somber face. He had hoped for the fight to last longer than this especially since he was fighting with only half of his strength. He watched as her keyblades faded away and let his own disappear. He walked over to the unconscious wolf girl and tossed her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

"You have the potential, but you won't be strong or fast enough if you don't train." He walked back to the clearing they had met at and tossed her onto the ground with her teammates. "Next time..."


	24. Leon Vs Nick

Nick found himself looking down upon his opponent from the gradual incline from the mountains behind him. He could hear the other battles off in the distance but he decided it would be best to keep his eyes on his enemy. The man standing in front of his had a casual cool aura about him. He had his gunblade resting on his shoulder nonchalantly behind his back as if he weren't even going to use it.

"What's going on here? Why attack us?" Nick asked as he summoned his keyblade in a burst of sparks. The man smirked pulling his blade down to get ready for his attack.

"Well, I won't be mentioning what is going on. We are attacking your group because you had the misfortune to obtain a keyblade." The man stated as he circled Nick to get on the same level as him. Nick watched carefully trying not to make the first move. The man disappeared from Nick's vision with only the sound of gravel filling his disappearance. Nick heard a scraping sound from above. He only had time to turn to block the man's blade. "By the way, you can call me Leon. Now you better get ready because I'm done talking."

Leon pushed hard against Nick's defense causing him to lose his footing as he slid. He found himself defending against Leon's attacks. He threw a kick to try and mess up Leon's rhythm. Leon stepped back as Nick climbed higher up the mountainside. Nick found a portion of the hill leveled off and decided to make his stand there. Leon made his way up like a lion preparing its kill. Nick cocked open his keyblade and snapped it shut. He fired a thunder shot at Leon. He quickly swayed to the side to avoid the attack. He jumped in the air towards Nick. He used his momentum to slam his gunblade into Nick's keyblade.

They began to exchange blows. Nick was having a hard time keeping up as he realized that Leon was slowly picking up his pace. He could no longer throw any attacks of his own but only defend the onslaught that seemed to only get faster. In his only defense, he fired a gravity shot in defense. Leon jumped away as if there wasn't an extra strain from the gravity. He hung in the air for a moment as he yelled, "Rough Divide!" He dove downwards extremely fast and hit Nick straight on sending him spiraling through the air.

Nick hit the ground and rolled back into the trees. Leon cocked his head and used Blizzard with his free hand. Nick noticed it coming and jumped behind a tree avoiding a direct hit as he watched everything around him freeze.

"Crap. I can't risk summoning lightning because I can't take a hit like that in this fight. I got lucky with the Yusuke fight. I don't think I could piss him off to beat the life out of me." Nick thought to himself. He smirked as he noticed a ring of red orbs surround him.

"Fated Circle," Leon calmly spoke from behind the tree. Each orb began to explode causing Nick to slam into a tree further into the forest. He used Blizzara this time to show off his advancement. Leon watched Nick hide behind another tree. He walked towards it and prepared another attack.

"Blasting Zone," he muttered as he held his gunblade high in the air. He brought it down like a slash and the ground shot upwards in flames straight in front of him. Nick yelled in agony as he couldn't get his legs free from the ice.

Nick could barely hold himself up as Leon stalked towards him. Nick threw his keyblade at Leon. He deflected it away into the woods. He looked back at Nick and noticed he had summoned his keyblade back and landed his first attack on him.

Leon's eyes opened wide in surprise. He couldn't hide his anger as he raised his blade into the air. It grew about four times its length and looked as if it had been crystallized in amethyst. Leon blinked and shook his head as his blade shattered. It fell in chunks clouding Nick's vision. The last thing he heard was "Revolver Drive" and saw burst through the pieces holding his gunblade to the side like he was jousting into Nick's chest. It hit him further and further back until he fell from the pressure.

Leon shook his head again and laughed. "I let my guard down. The second I think what could he do and you capitalize." Leon laughed to himself and he lifted Nick by the back of his shirt. He dragged him back to the group and threw him in with the rest of the group.


	25. Riku Vs Thomas

Thomas and the silver haired boy known as Riku continued to stare each other down, "Why are yo-" Thomas started to say before Riku cut him off by pointing his keyblade at him.

"Let's quit the formalities and cut right to the chase, I'm not going to tell you why all of this is happening. You don't need to know yet the only thing you need to know that right now you're fighting me." Riku said as he continued to point his keyblade, his aqua colored eyes showed only confidence as the lightning continued to strike around them.

Thomas's crimson eyes were still locked on Riku even though he could hear the battles going on between his friends, "Ugh I've got to hurry up and beat this pretty boy and help my friends." He thought to himself. Thomas then opened up his hands with them at his waist and summoned his keyblades, Chaos Star and Shattered Dreams. Riku particularly stared at his shattered dreams keyblade

"Hmm I didn't realize his keyblade had that much dark power in it, but he's still unaware that power will swallow him whole." He thought to himself as he lowered his keyblade. "Hand over that keyblade." Riku demanded as Thomas simply stared.

"Are you crazy? You must be crazy, you're going to have to pry it from my cold, dead fi-"

"So be it!" Riku said as lightning flashed in front of him, when the lightning passed he was gone.

Unsure of where he was Thomas began scanning the open field for Riku but his speed was to unrealistic, Riku then suddenly appeared in front of him and swung his keyblade down, barely having enough time Thomas put his keyblades up in an "X" shape to block the attack. While blocking Thomas shifted his right arm and used his chaos star keyblade and swiped at Riku's stomach, thinking he connected Thomas put a smirk on until he noticed that Riku's body began to fade away from him. "What? An after-ima-"Thomas started to say before he felt Riku's keyblade grind into his back and sent him flying.

"Damn, what power." Thomas thought to himself as he got up slowly, he looked to his left and noticed Riku walking towards him, he pointed his keyblade at Riku "Stop!" he cried as Riku was frozen in time for a moment. Thomas then sprang up and began to attack Riku he swung his shattered dreams keyblade him only for the spell to wear off, Riku grabbed Thomas's keyblade

"You're nowhere near strong enough for that move to work on me yet."

"Yet?" Thomas questioned as Riku kicked Thomas in the stomach while still gripping his keyblade, Thomas lost his grip and went sliding back

"Now you're not ready for this keyblade and I don't think you ever will." Riku said as he raised his Way to the dawn keyblade and smashed Thomas's keyblade.

"NOOO!" Thomas let out a cry.

Thomas watched as his keyblade shattered into pieces and landed against the ground, Riku watched as Thomas was helpless to do anything, Thomas continued to point his open hand at the broken keyblade, his hand began to glow a couple times "What the-?" Riku thought to himself as he watched the shattered remains of the keyblade glow a bright white as it suddenly disappeared, Riku looked up to see Thomas leaping at him slashing with both keyblades. Thomas managed to hit Riku in both of his shoulders and then kicked him in the stomach which sent him stumbling back a little "Heh, I almost felt that, but I see you do have some power to you, to bring your keyblade back after it being broken but you're still not ready for this fight." Riku said as he pointed his keyblade at Thomas again. "Dark aura." he said as small spheres of dark energy shot out at Thomas and collided with his chest and stomach which knocked him out instantly.

Riku walked over to Thomas's body. "I had to actually put a little force into that attack; you're going to have unrealistic power when the time comes. You and your whole team." Riku said as he watched as Sora, Roxas, and Leon brought over the other keyblade wielders.


	26. Kairi Vs Kim

"Really?" Kim couldn't help but ask annoyance obvious in her voice. "Ambush is the best you could do? I guess they must really give these things to anyone and that whole speech was really nothing but a lie."

She glared at her red-haired rival, the smile on the other female's face only causing her own annoyance to grow. Scoffing softly, Kim eyes quickly darted about the cave she'd been pushed back into It was filled with blue-green crystalline stalactite of varying sizes, all sharp and casting a greenish glow on the uneven ground. Glancing up real quick to see just how much room she had to jump and move and if it'd be safe to dig her keyblade into these stones and she was greeted by a high cave ceiling and shadows. Perfect…Smirking darkly, Kim threw a quick glance over her shoulder, peeking to see the rest of her surroundings. A few yards behind her was a small lake of dark blue water that cut off this side of the cave from the next. The current didn't look strong, but that amount of water, it was probably obvious that it was deep. No mis-stepping around that.

Kim's eyes quickly swiveled back around to her opponent, knowing that it wasn't wise to keep her gaze off of the girl for too long, lest leaving the girl completely free to attack all her. Kairi hadn't moved from her spot at all, a mocking smile slowly growing on her lips, making Kim's blood begin to boil. Staring hard at one another it seems the two were assessing each other rather than actually fighting. Kim had to admit, the girl was cute; natural long red hair, large dark blue eyes, a nice healthy complexion and figure. Holding her keyblade tighter, a shadow dancing about it happily, Kim's eyes lighting up with a mischievous plan to end this fight sooner than later. Hopefully she could set it up…

"Let's do this", Kim said, smirk plastered on her lips as she rushed the other girl, low to the ground, holding her keyblade with both hands.

Kairi smile shrunk, her eyes narrowing as she actually looked up at her opponent instead of her nails. Holding out her hand again, Kairi summoned her Destiny Place and got into a fighting stance. Kim quickly swiped her keyblade at the other girl's feet, only to have Kairi sidestep, a soft giggle leaving her lips. Kim barely got a chance to glance up and look at the girl before feeling Kairi's keyblade fly up and hit her in the chin. Falling back, Kim grunted as her bottom hit the rock floor of the cave hard, hissing softly as she stared up at the other female.

Spitting the small amount of blood that had filled her mouth, Kim charged the girl again, throwing any lack of seriousness away. Kim ran from the girl swinging with her full strength at Kairi's chest. Their two keyblades' met in a loud clang, Kim pressing closer to the girl with her strength, a soft chuckle leaving Kim's lips as she saw Kairi begin to slide back. Pushing harder, Kim quickly jumped back before slashing her keyblade quickly at Kairi, the other girl doing a graceful flip backwards to avoid the hit before charging Kim. Kim waited for Kairi's attack, waiting for the last moment before jumping into the air and slashing at one of the larger crystals, smirking as chunks of the substance began to rain down on the other girl. Looking up, Kairi closed her eyes, light surrounding her before flying about her and dissipating the crystals. Kim found herself wincing in pain at the sheer amount of light that soaked the space, the crystals only intensifying it even for that short amount of time. Landing ungracefully on the ground, Kim shuddered, rubbing at her eyes, pain still seizing through her.

"What the hell are you?" Kim shouted at the other girl. "A freaking pixie of light?"

"Actually it's Princess of Heart", Kairi said in a matter-of-factly tone. "And it seems that you don't like the light."

Rolling her eyes, Kim quickly dove to attack her, a sloppy move as Kairi dodged, Kim jumping up on her feet only to have Kairi begin a new assault on her. Kairi faked a left before hitting her low right, making Kim drop to one knee before continuing her assault and giving her a hard kick in the chest, Kim tumbling backwards towards the edge of their side of the cave. Kim pushed herself up, pain arcing through her as she prepared to attack the other female. Kairi was too quick, however, slashing and forcing the other girl from the edge of the small cave pool and into the water. Kim fell in, clenching her side and slowly beginning to sink into the water. Kairi walked to the edge, glee then concern racing across her features as the other female didn't surface.

"Uh…oh", Kairi murmured softly. "I don't think Sora or Riku are going to like this…"

"And you aren't going to like this!" Kim exclaimed as she slipped from the shadows, Kairi quickly turning to face her, catching her by surprise but not stopping the movement.

Kim was soaked from head to toe, clothes heavy and clinging tight to her body. Swinging her keyblade, Kim screamed in frustration as she watched her dark fire get easily pushed aside as Kairi's keyblade was enveloped in light once again. Pushing her keyblade hard against Kairi's, Kim knew that she may have a small problem defeating the other girl if she kept throwing light about like that. However, the fight was soon to be over.

"Thunder", Kairi said simply, the electrical currents passing between the blades and into the soaked fighter, making Kim's body go rigid, a scream being torn from her lips as she crumpled to the ground, keyblade dissipating in shadows.

Kairi looked down at the unconscious girl before sighing.

"That was lucky…"she murmured softly. "I hope the guys are done…I may need help…"


	27. Cloud Vs Chris

The trees rustled in the wind as Chris drew his Assailant keyblade from what appeared to be a sheath of light. He stared down his mysterious opponent who had earlier introduced himself as Cloud. "What is your motive behind this ambush? You came with other keyblade wielders, so why are you attacking us?" Chris questioned. Cloud looked in the sky for a moment and smirked.

"Let's just say you guys need to learn this lesson before it's too late." He replied. He then drew his gigantic blade and took a battle stance.

"I have no desire to fight you Cloud." Chris said sternly.

"You don't have a choice!" Cloud replied as he lunged towards the keyblade wielder. Chris raised his keyblade and intended to block the attack but the force of Cloud's sword overwhelmed him. Chris was sent flying backwards and impact with the large tree he was headed towards was imminent. He back flipped through the air landing flat on the side surface of the tree. Using the tree as a springboard, he soared with incredible speed at Cloud. Right before the clash Chris summoned Silver Seraph and began an onslaught of slashes. Despite having such a huge weapon, Cloud kept up with Chris's speed and blocked every attack. "You're going to have to do better than that." Cloud taunted. He then dodged a couple dozen more of Chris's attacks as if to prove that he was indeed the quickest. Cloud then went on the offensive attacking Chris in an upward slash sending him into the sky. As Chris reached the peak of his temporary flight, he hurled his keyblades simultaneously at Cloud. Cloud blocked the keyblades with the flat side of his sword. They spun like buzz saws when they clashed with Cloud's sword creating sparks.

"Damn it! How the hell is he blocking all of my attacks? Just who is this guy?" Chris said to himself. As soon as he touched the ground Cloud attacked Chris relentlessly. "How is he able to control such a huge sword, and with such speed!" Chris thought.

"You don't know the pain of losing people important to you because you aren't strong enough. If you don't become stronger you will make the same mistake as me!" Cloud said while slashing at Chris.

"I don't have anyone important to me so that won't be a problem!" Chris yelled.

"Don't try to fool me!" Cloud retorted as he angrily smashed his forehead into Chris's. This caused Chris to stumble backwards for a moment holding his forehead. For the first time since the battle started, Chris noticed that a storm had started. Lightning crackled through the sky creating an atmosphere of intensity. Chris stood still for a moment. Cloud's sword began to start glowing blue. Chris dashed towards Cloud and let out a final battle cry and Cloud did the same. This final attack would determine the battle. As Cloud's sword collided with Chris's keyblades it sent a blue beam of light at Chris. That beam hit him point blank sending him crashing through numerous trees. After the damage was done, Cloud walked over to Chris's battered body. He lay unconscious in a pile of rubble which consisted of broken tree trunks and branches. Cloud picked him up and slung him over his shoulder. He then proceeded to walk off to meet up with the rest of his teammates.


	28. Falling

The keyblade wielders fell at a speed so fast, they appeared like shooting stars rushing towards the ground. They were approaching the ground fast; a once lush forest that now appeared to be covered with the scars of battle. Darryl however, began descending in a different direction than the rest of the group.

"Grab our hands!" Kim led the charge as the entire group reached their hands out. Darryl's hands barely touched their fingertips, before he suddenly jerked to the left of them, and was sent flying out of their sight.

"Darryl!" Thomas could do nothing but watch, as their friend was sent to parts unknown.

"Oomph." They hit the ground hard and suddenly, covering the small clearing in dust from their impact. Once they found themselves able to stand, the group was surrounded by various bodies; strong and able bodied warriors wearing flak jackets and metal headbands upon their foreheads. Each headband had the kanji for shinobi upon it.

"They could be spies for the Akatsuki! Kill them!" A voice bellowed from behind a group of warriors. And that's when the person appeared; a hulking, dark skinned man with white hair slicked back. He also had a white moustache and beard. His most notable feature however, besides his overly muscular body, was the fact that he was missing an arm.

"Wait Raikage. I don't think they are. In fact, they could be useful. They might not be working with the Akatsuki. The voice that spoke this time belonged to a blonde haired woman. The most identifying feature she possessed was her ample sized breast that threatened to spill out of her top.

"Who are these people?' Nick whispered; standing at the ready in case they needed to fight their way to safety.

"Ninja." Chris seemed rather pleased, almost envious, of the people opposing their group.

"Let me check them out." A blonde, spikey hair teenager spoke. He seemed to favor the color orange, based on his style of clothing. And suddenly, in a flash, the boy began to glow pure yellow. He was almost like a living flame; as if he was life itself. As quickly as the transformation took place, it also vanished. "They're good. I didn't sense any negative emotions towards us."

"Thank you, Naruto. Now, would you all care to join us?" The large breasted woman, referred to as Hokage spoke.

"And if we refuse?" Wolfie looked mildly annoyed with the entire conversation.

"I'll kill you all where you stand." The Raikage crackled with electricity to follow up on his verbal threat. Needless to say, the group relented. One of the shinobi had made a large building out of wood ninjutsu, and the group was informed with what was happening thus far in this world. The agreement came that if the keyblade wielders helped in this war, the shinobi would use their techniques to locate Darryl.

"Okay. Rock Lee and the one known as Thomas; we're going to search for Sasuke Uchiha. He could dramatically change the ties in this war if he joined with Akatsuki. We have to stop that from happening." One of the division commanders, Kakashi Hatake, proposed.

"Naruto and Chris. We should focus on the battle taking place near the border of the fire country. Apparently some new white creatures are appearing alongside the white Zetsus." The shinobi known as Shikamaru reasoned.

"Those are probably Nobodies. They're creatures from our world." Chris retorted as the three left.

"Kim. I want you to help Hinata and Kiba secure a safe haven for the Daimyo. You'll go ahead of them to the location and wait for their arrival." The Hokage explained.

"Heh. Welcome to the winning squad." It was hard for Kim to focus on Kiba's words, since she was busy petting the massive dog known as Akamaru.

"Gai and Temari. You two, along with Nick, will be in charge of actually escorting the Daimyo to the location where Kim, Hinata, and Kiba await." The Hokage continued assigning orders.

"And Wolfie. I want you to personally help myself and Neji defend the wounded as we move them from the battlefield to the medical division." The Kazekage, the youngest Kage whom was called Gaara, spoke. And with that; everyone left towards their assignments.


	29. Curse of Hatred

"Oi Sasuke. Look what I found. "The silver haired, water Jutsu expert known as Suigetsu pointed towards Darryl's slowly awakening body. The fall had knocked him unconscious for a brief moment. The dark haired Uchiha gracefully strolled over; his black eyes shifting to a red tone. He had activated his Sharingan to access this newfound body, trying to detect if it was friend or foe.

"Weird. His chakra is completely different from anything I've ever seen. Come to think of it, he doesn't give off the presence of a shinobi at all. All his chakra seems gathered around his heart instead of evenly flowing throughout his body. And I can't detect its nature. It seems to be water at first but it keeps shifting." Sasuke pondered, only to stop when his third companion, Jugo walked up.

"He's waking up. Should I kill him?" Suigetsu ran a tongue across one of his fanged teeth. He was already in a bad mood from all the extra work he would have to do to relocate his weapon, the Kubikiribōchō. For now, he was using an extra samurai sword that he had picked up and was dying to test it out.

"No. This is the perfect chance to test my brother's eyes. Besides, having him as an ally might be more useful. Konoha and the other Kage's know nothing on him." Sasuke's eyes shifted to their Mangekyo Sharingan form; which was currently a mixture between his own star shaped pattern, and his brother's windmill shaped pattern. Slowly, Darryl's eyes began to open and regain focus.

"Who are-"Darryl unknowingly made eye contact with Sasuke. He unknowingly made a huge mistake.

"Tsukiyomi!"

Darryl kept up surprisingly well with the three shinobi; despite not being a ninja, as they jumped from tree to tree.

"Are you sure this is a good idea, Sasuke-sama?" Jugo was referring to Darryl, whom had been following them.

"Relax. He believes all shinobi besides ourselves are these…heartless things that he's so used to fighting, and that we're helping him stop them."

"What if we encounter someone powerful like Kakashi?" Suigetsu was mostly implying that Darryl was weak.

"I've implanted Amaterasu in the kid's chakra to automatically activate at the sight of another Sharingan besides my own, as well as any Jinchuriki chakra. His charka is surprisingly versatile and easily manipulated. But that's also why Genjutsu seem so effective against him." Jugo looked away from Sasuke when he spoke. His chakra had been growing darker since their journey began, and his blatant disregard for Karin's whereabouts didn't help. Even Suigetsu noticed the change.

"There they are." Darryl pointed out what in his mind were heartless, and left down from the trees; keyblade drawn. The shinobi trio followed; surprising the group of allied shinobi. Darryl and Sasuke had been taking out the majority of the shinobi together with their impressive swordsmanship. Any that they missed, Jugo and Suigetsu finished off for them. Darryl jumped back and stood back to back with Suigetsu.

"Limit: Water Release- Dragon Knight Jutsu!" The two water users began forming the water into a massive Dragon. On top of that dragon sat an armored knight complete with a large spear of water. The knight ran the dragon through the remaining shinobi and swallowed them into the vortex of crushing water.

"I see…by focusing his weird chakra he can align it with another's chakra and amplify the both of them. That will definitely be useful considering my body still isn't fully adjusted to the new Mangekyo Sharingan." Sasuke thought as he others approached him. "Let's continue onward."

"There must be nearly a hundred heartless that we've defeated so far. Strong heartless on top of that. They normally don't have this wide variety of skills. And they were more intelligent…like Nobodies. If the heartless are growing stronger, we might have some problems. And where are the others? I'm glad these guys are helping me out but I'm worried about my friends. But I'm sure if I keep destroying heartless, I'll run into them eventually. "Darryl's mind had still been trapped within Sasuke's Genjutsu. He had innocently killed a hundred people.

The revised team Taka had taken out quite a bit of the Allied Shinobi Forces before stopping for a brief rest. Sasuke and Darryl were fine; it was mostly for Jugo and Suigetsu.

"Something is here." Jugo's words put them all on edge. He had the ability to communicate with nature; birds mostly. So when he saw one and it perched upon his shoulders, Jugo knew there was a reason. Everyone looked around but they couldn't find anything. Just when they began to think that maybe the bird had simply seen a large animal or something, when a large fireball came soaring towards Jugo and sent him flying into a tree and knocked him out. Sasuke's Sharingan finally picked up another chakra there.

"Show yourself!" Sasuke almost fell to the floor when he saw the figure emerge from the shadows. "You…you can't be. How are you here brother?" Sasuke's voice trembled with confusion once he saw that his brother, Itachi Uchiha stood before him. His brother, whom he had killed, was now standing before him.

"How do you think?" Itachi looked nearly identical to how he was before he was killed, with the only exception being that his sclera was now completely black. Sasuke stared at his revived brother, as if assessing all possible options before his eyes narrowed in anger.

"Madara and Kabuto." He figured that Kabuto still had some of Orochimaru's influence in his system. It wouldn't be completely impossible for Orochimaru to be using the Impure World Resurrection technique.

Darryl had been looking at Jugo and was trying to see if he could heal him without being attacked, but was listening into the conversation. "Wait…brother. But that's a heartless. How could a heartless be someone's brother? This doesn't make any sense." Sasuke sucked his teeth as if he could read Darryl's thoughts. Up until now, he had avoided any dialogue so that Darryl wouldn't get wise to the Genjutsu.

"Hey, Darryl." Darryl turned to face Sasuke when he was again, hit with another Tsukiyomi.

"Oh…right. The heartless is just taking the form of Sasuke's brother. That's a new low." Darryl shook his head at the thought, and looked on at Sasuke. He had been in battle position, and Darryl figured he better match. And for the first time, Darryl actually looked at the enemy that stood before him. "His eyes are like Sasu-"Darryl's thoughts were interrupted when his keyblade began tugging on his hand, until it pointed straight at Itachi. "Amaterasu!" Darryl's trance like voice was preceded by a black flame shooting out at Itachi. But Itachi had apparently known it was coming; quickly moving out of the way and taking the chance for a surprise attack to shoot out a large fireball directly into Suigetsu's back.

"Chidori Sharp Spear!" Sasuke shot a large spear of lightning that zipped past Darryl and nearly pierced Itachi. At the last second however, he formed a shadow clone which took the hit and then exploded; sending the nearby Darryl flying. Darryl recovered in midair however, and barely managed to block the follow up kunai that Itachi sent his way.

Suddenly, Itachi's eyes shifted from the normal Sharingan into their Mangekyo Sharingan form. "Shit." Darryl heard Sasuke mutter, while his own eyes shifted as well. Darryl had to admit, it was odd how Sasuke's eyes looked so similar to his brothers. Maybe it was genetics, or maybe the heartless was just messing with their minds. He shrugged it off and instead locked eyes with Itachi. Darryl was starting to understand how the technique Sasuke implanted within him worked.

"Amaterasu!" Black flames shot from Darryl's keyblade and towards his opponent, whom countered with the same technique. The two streams of black fire collided in an explosion that sent Darryl flying back. "My arm…" Darryl thought to himself. He figured that he couldn't use this technique too much, because it slowly began burning his arm. Itachi and Sasuke's eyes bled whenever they used the technique, Darryl noted. The technique must have some natural, strong kick back. "Geyser!" After watching Itachi send Sasuke flying, he got back in the battle. His water technique saved Sasuke from the follow up fire blast that Itachi sent, and left room for Sasuke's counter attack. Sasuke charged through the water, while using his Chidori to strengthen the strike. It hit Itachi, but he instead crumbled in a flock of crows.

"Where are you looking?" Itachi's voice came from above the very surprised Sasuke.

"Drowning shot!" Since Darryl was standing back, he caught sight of Itachi before Sasuke did. A stream of water from Darryl's keyblade went flying towards Itachi, who easily stopped it. A wall of his own water popped in front of him, which absorbed Darryl's before vanishing.

"Behind you!" Sasuke's vice rang out as Darryl turned to see Itachi standing behind him." But how? Itachi is next to Sasuke." The Itachi next to him began attacking with a kunai, and the two were locked in a close quarter's battle. The Itachi fighting Sasuke was doing the same. Darryl was a better swordsman than Itachi and easily bested him.

"Got you!" Darryl swung his keyblade into Itachi's side.

"Clone Great Explosion." Darryl heard the words sound from the other Itachi, but it was too late. The Itachi clone that Darryl was fighting erupted in a wave of destruction that sent Darryl flying. As Darryl's eyes regained their focus, he saw that Itachi and Sasuke were locked in a battle of Amaterasu.

"Wave!" Darryl sent a wave of water at Itachi, who responded with several well placed Shuriken that nearly hit Darryl. But that didn't matter; Darryl achieved his goal. The buildup of water magic activated his Water Herald command style. The blue gem from his keyblade popped off and landed on his head, and he became surrounded with water. Darryl surged on water until he was next to Sasuke; the two staring down Itachi. The three then launched into a furious close quarters battle. Sasuke's Chidori charged strikes meshed well with Darryl's water enhanced strikes, and appeared to even be forcing Itachi back a little. Itachi was no fool however. He avoided taking any major blows, and backed up when he saw that he could be in trouble.

"Back up Sasuke!" Darryl jumped into the air and began to twirl around; water rushing around him. Sasuke did as he was told; releasing an Amaterasu the shape of a ring to hold Itachi in place. "Tsunami Wave Train!" Darryl came down with a massive wave of water that smashed into Itachi. Or so they thought. Instead, they saw Itachi slowly being surrounded by a large, orange warrior like creature. Darryl didn't have time to voice his surprise, before he was flying high into the air. If it wasn't for Sasuke catching him with his similar, purple warrior, Darryl would have been out of the battle.

All Darryl could do was watch the fierce battle taking place. The two creatures collided and began attacking each other; Sasuke's shooting an arrow usually, that Itachi's deflected with its sword. Occasionally, Darryl would try to strike, but it would bounce effortlessly off the technique referred to as Susanoo. Itachi's landed a direct hit that sent Sasuke flying, and his Susanoo deactivated. But when Itachi's Susanoo moved for the final strike, it was met with Darryl's keyblade. "You think you can stop the blade? You're too weak." Darryl felt himself sink into the ground from the weight of the strike he was blocking. But Sasuke managed to roll away, which was all that mattered.

"Angel drive? No I don't feel enough power of friendship to activate it. My drive forms rely on my feelings. Search my feelings…what is my strongest right now…guilt?" Darryl was then surrounded in a sphere of dark energy. When the dark energy left, the whites of his eyes turned black and an aura of dark energy surrounded him and panned off as corroded black wings and his eyes became red and his keyblade turned black. "Demon drive!" His voice was contorted and sounded like it went through a voice changer two times too many. Darryl, with the power of his drive, became intangible and phased through the blade and through the Susanoo period; getting right into Itachi's face. He swung his keyblade, and Itachi countered with his kunai. He then grinned to himself. "Amaterasu."

Itachi was covered with black fire from head to toe, as Darryl dashed away. Since his Demon drive focused on black magic, and Amaterasu was part fire magic, part black magic, it was slightly enhanced in strength. Darryl landed next to Sasuke and released his drive form as the two watched Itachi's body be consumed in the black flames.

"Izanagi." Itachi appeared behind the two warriors and struck them both with a powerful fire ball Jutsu. The two were quick to recover however

"But how? Danzo said you needed-"

"To have Sonja clan DNA? That's just to fully master the technique. The only difference is that I can still feel the pain of the blows. However I'm a shinobi; pain is nothing." Itachi cut Sasuke off.

"He's using Izanagi with his left eye. That will take out his Tsukiyomi and his Susanoo. He wasn't using Tsukiyomi to begin with, since my Sharingan makes it near impossible to get it pulled off and he'd have to weed through the Tsukiyomi I placed on Darryl before he could utilize his own. But the removal of his Susanoo will be a massive help. Now we just need to hope his Izanagi doesn't last long…and survive until it does." Sasuke thought to himself as he watched Darryl engaged Itachi. When Itachi sent Darryl flying backwards, Sasuke quickly stepped in and caught him with a Chidori Sharp Spear directly into his chest. Itachi grunted a bit, before fading away and reappearing in front of Sasuke to catch him off guard. Sasuke's sword went flying into the air, but Darryl caught it and formed a cross with his keyblade and the sword.

"Grand Cross!" An ice shaped cross went flying and smashed into Itachi; "killing" him once more. This time he reappeared a few feet away from Darryl, before charging at him in the form of a storm of crows. Darryl was engulfed in the storm and was knocked backwards; giving Sasuke his sword as he flew back. Once Darryl recovered, he joined Sasuke in the fray. Darryl attacked high while Sasuke attacked low, and the two simultaneously struck Itachi.

"Looks like that's the last time you can use Izanagi. Unless you want to be blind." Sasuke pointed out once Itachi reformed; left eye closed forever. "No Tsukiyomi. No Susanoo. No Izanagi. You're out of tricks." Itachi chuckled at the last line.

"You think I need that to defeat you?" Itachi summoned a bunch of clones to surround the two warriors. "Amaterasu." Each clone uttered the technique and flames nearly completely consumed the two. At the last minute, Darryl cast reflect and formed a dome of light energy to shield the two. The flames however, continued to beat against the shield. It wouldn't last much longer.

"Sasuke!" Darryl grabbed Sasuke and tossed him upwards and out of the range of fire. Sasuke soared into the air, only to meet the face of the actual Itachi.

"Even now…you're still ahead of me." Itachi smashed Sasuke down and he went flying towards the flames he left behind.

"Demon drive!" Darryl phased through the flames and his own magic and escaped upward; turning tangible again to catch Sasuke in midair. He flung him back up and turned to face the clones. "Shadow spike!" Darryl made the shadows of the clones rise from the ground and speared the clones; causing them to transfigure back into crows. Meanwhile, Sasuke had pierced Itachi directly in the heart with his Chidori and the two landed on the ground with Sasuke on top of his brother; Chidori engulfed arm still plunged in his chest. Itachi's face looked absolutely surprised, before he reached his hand up and pointed to Sasuke's right with his pointer and middle finger. Sasuke turned to see Itachi launching an Amaterasu towards him.

"When did he use the Genjutsu…?" Sasuke barely managed to block the blow with his Susanoo ribcage. In fact, he barely managed to summon the ribcage period. He was exhausted, as was Darryl.

"We could use a limit…I just need to find a connection between Sasuke. Wait…guilt" Darryl transformed into his Demon drive and called Sasuke over to him.

"Limit: Blaze Release- Cage of flames!" Sasuke and Darryl zipped around Itachi releasing streams of Amaterasu surrounded Itachi. Sasuke then took control of the flames and formed it into a large dome of black fire that surrounded and completely engulfed Itachi. Darryl released his drive once he was above the flames, and surrounded the dome in another dome of light.

"Let's go back to the cave. We have a new target; Kabuto." Sasuke pointed out after the fight and after Darryl healed them.


	30. Copy Ninja

"You know, this isn't as hard as I thought it was going to be when you guy's mentioned going through the trees." Thomas said as he leapt from tree branch to branch, behind the two partners he was assigned. The leader of their squad was known Kakashi Hatake the "Copy Ninja", he had spiky white hair, and his headband was covering his left eye. He wore a cloth covering his mouth and nose, with a green a vest and a long sleeved blue undershirt, with matching fingerless gloves that have metal plates on the back of the hands. Finally he wore the same color pants with ninja supplies tied to his pants leg and the typical shinobi shoes. Kakashi is very laid back and lethargic, with the expression on his face rarely ever changing. The other ninja that was ahead of him is known as Rock Lee, he had large black eyebrows with a bowl style haircut, and he was wearing a green jumpsuit with the same green vest as Kakashi, with his hands and forearms taped. With orange leg warmers and his red headband wrapped around his waist. Lee is closer to Thomas's age, and also is very energetic and enthusiastic.

The three continued on for several more miles in silence, Thomas assumed it was because they were mentally preparing themselves for whatever the three were about to face. "Hey Kakashi tell me, who is this Sasuke guy? What makes him so dangerous?" Thomas questioned as Kakashi looked back at him then Lee and nodded and the three landed.

"I suppose here will be a good place for a short break to answer your questions" Kakashi said as he patted the dust off his pants "Sasuke Uchiha, one of the last members of his clan, was a student of mine that was hell bent on power and revenge. That he became blinded to everything else, his power now is incredible only rivaled by Naruto's new power." Kakashi said as Thomas had a blank expression on his face as he remembered when his Shattered Dreams keyblade reacts when he fights at times.

"It appears we are not alone Kakashi-Sensei" Lee said as he took a fighting stance, as the group was surrounded by what seemed to be a small army of White Zetsu.

"I hope you can handle yourself in a fight." Kakashi said as he took a kunai out and took a fighting stance, Thomas opened both of his hands and summoned his Chaos Star and Shattered Dreams keyblades and took his fighting stance as well. Everyone remained still, adding to the suspense of the battle at hand, forming a small triangle Thomas and Lee were back to back as Kakashi was on the side of them "Go!" Kakashi yelled out as the three split up taking each side. Thomas began his assault on the Zetsu by striking two in the stomach and dragging the bodies through the others, he then spun around knocking them off his keyblades and into other Zetsu, he slashed forward with his Chaos Star then following with his Shattered Dreams repeatedly. Two of the Zetsu grabbed his arms and held him down as they began attacking him

"Stop!" Thomas cried out as the small crowd around him froze, "Dark Lion Assault!" he cried as he began unleashing a fury of combo's on the frozen enemies, using his acrobatic skills to bounce off the tree's. He stopped in front of his frozen enemies before his spell wore off, "lets end this, Blood Thirst!" he said as he let his Chaos Star Keyblade vanish and threw his other into the crowd of Zetsu as it drained their energy, he then summoned his keyblade back and turned to see how his new partners were doing.

"Watch me Gai Sensei!" Lee cried out as he jumped into the air and did several flips into the small crowd of white Zetsu "Leaf Great Whirlwind" he yelled as he landed and swept kicked several of the Zetsu into the air, following with several more kicks as he sent them higher into the air, then disappeared and reappeared above them doing a heel drop that sent them back down. Lee then pulled out his Nunchaku and began to bash all the Zetsu one by one.

"I better scout ahead to make sure there aren't any more enemies ready to ambush us." Kakashi said as he made a hand-sign "Shadow Clone Jutsu" he said as a puff of smoke appeared next to him with a clone of himself, the clone then nodded and ran ahead to scout. Kakashi then turned back to the battle after knocking down a Zetsu behind him "let's end this quickly" he said as he lifted his headband revealing his Sharingan and lightning started forming around his hands. "Lee, Thomas move!" he said as the two jumped back out of the way, "Chidori!" he cried as lightning formed in both of his hands as he ran through the small wave of Zetsu and took them out with one blow.

"Whoa…" Thomas said as his eyes seemed to focus on the attack before he closed them, "That was weird" he thought to himself as he headed towards Kakashi who had a look of horror upon his face.

"Kakashi Sensei what is wrong?" Lee said as he approached him, "My clone has been destroyed, and I don't think either one of us is ready for what were about to face." Kakashi said as he lifted his kunai and took a fighting stance as he turned around and saw a man about the same height as him.

"It's been a long time eh Kakashi?" The man said with a deep bellowed voice, the man appeared to be wearing almost the same outfit as Kakashi and his hair was longer and in a ponytail.

"Kakashi who is this guy" Thomas said as he took his fighting stance with his keyblades

"It's my…father Sakumo Hatake aka The White Fang." A look of shock fell upon Rock Lee's face as he stared at the man known as the white fang.

"Great…I'll pretend like that means something to me" Thomas said as he leaped from where he was and slashed down at Sakumo, only to hit the ground. "What! How could he be that fast?" Thomas said as he turned to see Sakumo in front of him where he was then kneed in the stomach hard.

"Arrogant boy" Sakumo said as he turned back to see Lee throwing a punch at his face, he connected and Sakumo stepped back. "Nice form kid. But let me show you how it's done" he said as he threw one back faster and harder than lee's which sent him flying into a nearby tree. Sakumo was then hit in the back with several kunai and Kakashi then stabbed him several more times in the chest, he then fell to his knees.

"It's over father." Kakashi said as he stood in front of his father who sat helplessly.

"Hehehe" he chuckled. "Give your old man some credit Kakashi! I hope you truly didn't believe such a feeble Genjutsu would stop me." He said as he stood up and the kunai vanished, "Now let me give you a real technique, I wasn't a legend for no reason!" He said as he made a hand sign and lightning started forming around his body. Kakashi then jumped back and did hand signs of his own and b1egan charging electricity around his hand, "Ahh I see where this is going my son, I'll play this game too" Sakumo said as he began to mimic Kakashi.

"Let's go! Lightning cutter!" He cried as he charged for his father, Sakumo not knowing the attack, did one similar and charged for Kakashi as well where the two met and clashed.

Unknown to the white fang, Kakashi secretly made a clone just before his attack to go help the others. Kakashi then helped Thomas and Lee up to their feet. "C'mon you two, were going to have to work together to beat him. He's a lot stronger than each of us alone." He said as the two nodded.

"Then it is time to go all out." Lee stated as he knelt down and took the weights out of his leg warmers, and began charging up his chakra; Thomas then re-summoned his keyblades and took his fighting stance once more. Kakashi's clone then disappeared as the real Kakashi was sent stumbling back to the other two. "Kakashi-sensei get your strength back I will fight now." Lee said as his chakra continued charging "Haaaaaaaaaah Eight Gates: Fifth Gate Open! Gate of Limit!" He said as a green aura came over him and his hair stood up. Sakumo walked over to the group with a grin upon his face.

"Maybe this fight will be interesting." He said as lee looked up at him and disappeared instantly, and reappeared right behind him and kicked him in the back of his head. While lee continued his assault on the white fang, Thomas's eyes had been focusing on lee the whole time since his transformation.

"Eight…gates?" he muttered to himself as his eyes and keyblades began to glow. "Right!" He said as he made an X shape with his keyblades. "I'm coming Lee, Eight Gates: Seventh Gate Open! Gate of Wonder!" Thomas cried as his hair began to rise and his pupil's disappeared, he began assaulting Sakumo with lee.

"Incredible, his chakra really is different. He was able to open the gates all the way up to seven and it's his first time doing it." Kakashi said as he began charging up electricity in his left hand, and wind in his right. "Chidori and Rasengan together should do it!" He thought to himself as he continued watching the fight before making his move. "Thomas then slashed his Shattered dreams blade down upon Sakumo's collar bone while Lee wrapped him up with his bandages. Stunned Sakumo remained silent and motionless, "Now! Rasengan and Chidori" Kakashi cried as he began charging for the motionless white fang.

"Finally" he said as he broke out of lee's bandages and grabbed Thomas and lee and swung them in front of him just before Kakashi's attack connected; Thomas was hit with the Rasengan right in his back as lee was hit in the stomach with Chidori.

"What? No way!" Kakashi said as his father dropped the other two and grabbed Kakashi "Liger Bomb" he said as he lifted Kakashi over his head and slammed him into the ground head first, knocking him unconscious immediately. The White fang stood up triumphantly "I'm disappointed in you, son. I expected more. Now you all die here." He said as he began walking towards Kakashi's body.

"No! You still have me as your opponent" Thomas said as he stood back up "Eighth Gate Open! Gate of Death!" Thomas cried. "I'll give my life for them, if it means saving them, they are now my friends, someone needs to find Darryl for me!" he cried out as he disappeared, Sakumo braced himself for the attack, unaware that it was coming from below him. Thomas busted out of the ground and launched him into the air "Aerial Phantasm" he said as Sakumo threw a punch and it phased right through Thomas. His image then vanished and then appeared above him, as Thomas smashed him back down to the ground. Sakumo landed on his feet and looked up to try and find Thomas in the air.

"I'll admit boy, you're more impressive than I thought, but this needs to end."

"You're right, it does." Thomas said as he came rocketing down from the sky. "This will end it all! Orion's Final Comet!" Thomas cried as his body began to heat up and his keyblades rose to a super nova level of heat.

Lee and Kakashi woke mid-attack. "Ugh Kakashi-sensei is the fight over?" Lee questioned as he began rubbing his stomach.

"Mmm not yet lee, but by the looks of things it's not going in our favor. Thomas is going all out; he's opened the eighth gate…the gate of death." Kakashi said as lee's eyes got wide.

"No! I will not let him sacrifice himself- agh. I can't move. I'm out of chakra." Lee said as he continued clutching his stomach.

"I am too, Lee. It's up to Thomas now." he said as the two continued to look on to the fight. Sakumo began charging his chakra.

"This kid is a handful I'll have to counter his attack. Lightning release: Olympus's Lightning" he cried up at Thomas as he leaped and the two met in the air. The clash was so powerful everything went white. Silence filled the battle field for several minutes until the white faded, to Kakashi and Lee's surprise both of them laid on the ground. Several more minutes of silence went on until the white fang stood once more, Thomas remained lifeless. "That brat packed quite a punch, took majority of my chakra to counter that attack. But that's one dead two to go." He coldly said as he began to make his way to the others, who were still drained from their last effort.

"H-he's really dead, he sacrificed himself for us. His death will not be in vain!" Lee cried as he summoned the last of his strength for one final attack. "Leaf Great Whirlwind" he cried once more as he sent a kick towards Sakumo, only for it to be caught before it could connect and do any serious damage. Sakumo then proceeded to slam lee on the ground for a final blow, as Kakashi summoned his last bit of strength as well for a final Chidori to his back. Stunned Sakumo turned his attention to his son.

"I had high hopes you would finish me, but I guess I was wrong in the end." He stated as he pointed his fingers together, forming a type of lightning blade out of his chakra. Preparing to pierce Kakashi's chest he stopped in mid motion. Over to where Thomas's body remained a black and crimson aura formed around his body, as it began to rise.

His eyes glowing white, his body remained limp although he was standing. Still gripping his keyblades his head lifted. "Ninth Gate: Gate of Phoenix Rebirth." he said as his body charged for Sakumo who dropped Kakashi preparing to brace himself for impact. Thomas stopped in front of him. Sakumo now looked in confusion until he began to cough up blood.

"Y-you didn't even touch me. H-how?" he questioned as Thomas remained silent, he winded up his body and did a spinning slash at his chest with both of his keyblades. Knocking him back as he continued with his barrage of attacks.

"Kakashi-sensei, what is the ninth gate? I thought there were only eight?" Lee questioned as he watched Thomas's relentless onslaught on the white fang.

"I'm not sure lee, I told you his chakra is a lot different than ours." he replied as he did the continued looking on as well.

"End of Days. Grand Arcanum." Thomas said softly with an omnipresent voice. He then proceeded to do a 7 hit slashing combo on Sakumo, with the seventh strike sending him into the air; Thomas followed and continued with his combo adding 9 more strikes. On the eighth strike Thomas turned him around and with the ninth he jabbed his chaos star keyblade into his spine, paralyzing him. He then pointed both keyblades at his back which sent plummeting back to the ground. Kakashi quickly rushed to the body to cast the sealing Jutsu, his father then turned at him and smiled before Kakashi sealed him away.

Thomas landed back on the ground and the aura faded from him as Lee came to check on him. "Thomas are you ok?" He questioned helping him up,

"I'm not sure, but I do know that guy was tough as balls. And I never want to fight him again ha-ha." He chuckled as lee and Kakashi did the same and they took a long rest before continuing on to find Darryl where they found themselves at the entrance to a cave.


	31. The Wounded

Wolfie watched as her comrades and new found allies ran off to do their assigned tasks. Her job seemed simple enough. Her ears twitched around as she took in her surroundings of the battlefield. Wounded soldiers, no shinobi, were slowly picking themselves up if they were able or being lifted up by their fellow survivors. She noticed looks of suspicion on some of their eyes. She didn't blame them. If they were the ones that had dropped in on her world during a battle she would question their motives.

Her eyes turned to the two boys in charge. She says boys because they couldn't have been over the age of 16 yet it was obvious they were in command of what was going on. Especially the shorter one. He had red hair and green eyes. The other was a bit taller with black hair and eerie white eyes. The red head, Gaara was standing off to one side watching the area while the white eyed Neji was directing those that could walk to help those who couldn't.

Aside the occasional glance no one made any move to interact with her. It wasn't before long they all started moving towards the medical division. Wolfie stayed near the back since she didn't really know where they were going. Neji was in the middle helping carry a wounded man and Gaara took the lead. They traveled at a fairly slow pace with half a dozen unable to walk and another dozen unable to move any faster than a stumble.

In front of her one tripped over an exposed root and Wolfie ran forward to catch him. She might have been small, but she did have some strength. "Easy there." She helped him stand and continued to support him as they walked closer to the camp.

For a while the walk was quiet. Some light conversation occurred as well as hisses of pain but everyone was on high alert. They should have been. From what she had gathered about the war any minute now someone would show up. With many of the men and women here wounded the only ones capable of fighting would be herself, and the two boys in command. She didn't know how strong they were, but compared to the others they had the least injuries.

An hour into their travels they stopped to rest and look at the injured once more. While many weren't in too bad a condition there were one or two that were seriously injured. Not to mention the few deceased they carried with them. It would have been wrong to leave them there.

"How far until we reach the camp?" Wolfie had approached Gaara and Neji a few minutes after they had stopped and settled. Neji was the one to speak up and answer her question.

"At the rate we're going, another hour or so." He looked into the direction they were headed.

Wolfie turned to Gaara this time and gave him a good long look before speaking. "So what kind of demon are you?"

Wolfie watched as his eyes widened ever so slightly "How did you-" suddenly he pulled her down. She was about to complain when she looked up and noticed a shiny white stick embedded into the tree where her head had been. She hadn't even heard it coming at her. A low growl rumbled from her chest as she stood up and looked to her right.

Just at the edge of the clearing they had chosen to rest was a pale man with white hair. Wolfie could just make out the two red dots on his forehead. She could feel tension and anger coming from the two behind her, most of it coming from Gaara.

"Friend of yours?" She asked.

"No." Was the red head's simple answer.

As Gaara stepped forward, Neji turned to the other shinobi and ordered them to go on ahead. They quickly left, not wanting their injuries to get in the way. "You go with them as well Wolfie. We'll take care of Kimimaro." Neji ordered.

Wolfie scoffed and summoned her two key blades into her hands. "And miss this fight? I think not."

"What can you tell us about his fighting style?" Neji had only heard stories and mission reports about Kimimaro. He never actually saw him fight, so he was relying on Gaara for information.

"He's mostly Taijutsu. Incredibly powerful Taijutsu. He uses an ability called Shikotsumyaku that makes his bones removable and harder than any bone." Gaara and Kimimaro locked eyes.

"Oh…right. You're that sand brat I almost killed." Kimimaro mentioned, casually. Wolfie didn't know much about this world, but he did gather that Gaara was one of five higher ranked shinobi. If he could casually talk about nearly killing him, that meant this guy was good.

"Wolfie, are you good at Genjutsu, Taijutsu, or Ninjutsu?" Neji's question confused Wolfie.

"Wha?" Wolfie tightened her grip on her Wolf and her Fang keyblades; never taking her eyes off Kimimaro.

"Gaara is long ranged. I'm short range. You?" That explanation was much simpler. Neji forgot, the group claimed not to be of this world. And judging from the fact that her body didn't have chakra points, he was starting to believe her.

"I can play midrange then and support either or." Wolfie blinked. And just like that, Kimimaro was in her face.

"Dance of the Camellia." A sword made of sharpened bone flung directly at her jugular. He was fast, but so was she. She blocked he attack with her Wolf keyblade and attempted a counter attack with her Fang keyblade, but the attack missed when he stepped out of the way. Neji joined the brawl, using his two fingers with pin point precession. Blue energy, what Wolfie assumed was Chakra emerged from every attack that he threw and Kimimaro blocked. The two were incredible; Wolfie had to admit in between her own swings. Neji could obviously do some type of internal damage, judging from the odd places he was aiming. And this Kimimaro guy was capable of either dodging or blocking every strike the two could muster, and still counter attack with enough speed to have already wounded them. The way he fought was as graceful as a dance, but as dangerous as death itself. He looked like he was barely trying. Between it all though, she couldn't help but wonder what Gaara could do. She glanced back and saw that he was waiting, with sand floating at his side. It was nothing she ever saw before, but still she questioned the power.

"To hell with this." Wolfie combined her two keyblades and aimed a powerful swing at Kimimaro's front side, as Neji aimed a full palm strike at a full palm strike at his back. Her blade stopped inches next to Neji's neck, while Neji's palm halted near her heart. They both peeked down, to see Kimimaro had ducked and now was in a position to stab them both. He almost succeeded, but Gaara finally saw his moment. Sand rocketed into Kimimaro's stomach and propelled him back with the force of a drill, while two clouds of sand whisked Neji and Wolfie back to his side. Gaara was good. He earned the first strike on their opponent on his first move. Wolfie's ears twitched, as tiny bullets of bone rocked towards the trio. Wolfie quickly deflected the blows with her keyblade; Gaara caught them in his sand, and Neji busted into a dome of rotating Chakra. Wolfie got a few cuts, but she was otherwise okay. Obviously, her two teammates were better suited for defense than her.

"Eight Trigrams: Vacuum Palm!" Neji thrusted his palm forward and Kimimaro was hit with an invisible wall that knocked him back. Gaara wasted no time on the follow up, and two large demonic arms of sand appeared and grabbed Kimimaro; slamming him full force back onto the ground. Gaara then placed layer after layer of sand on top of the grounded Kimimaro, until it formed a large pyramid that Wolfie figured could be seen halfway around the world. No grain of sand was wasted.

"Desert layered Imperial Funeral!" Gaara's voice echoed as the pyramid collapsed all at once upon Kimimaro. The sand darkened with blood, and both Wolfie and Neji sighed with relief. "It's not over." A hand emerged from the sand. And then an entire body. An entire, gray body complete with a bone tail and a large drill of bone connected to his arm. Wolfie might have sensed that Gaara had some type of demonic heritage, but Kimimaro definitely looked the part.

"Hm. This is the second time you managed to force me into this form. Bravo." Kimimaro was still calm when he talked, but looking at him appeared much more menacing. Wolfie had been in plenty of fights; enough to know when danger was near.

"Summoning: Nightshadow! Summoning: Wolf pack!" The summoning took a lot out of her. She never combined two different summons before, but she knew she would need it. Nightshadow, her dark fire summon in wolf form stood at the head of a large pack of smaller, energy wolves that represented her fallen comrades. It was Neji and Gaara's turn to be impressed. "Hunt." The wolves howled and took off. Wolfie was still unsure of how Nightshadow would fair in battle. It was her first time actually using it. But it was configured off Hiei's Dragon of the Darkness Flame, so in theory it wouldn't be too hard. Kimimaro's new form slightly sacrificed speed, but not nearly enough to show any real difference. He was bit once or twice by the wolves, but he managed to dodge the majority of them and then destroy them with a whip of his tail. He seemed to be saving the drill on his hand for finishing his actual combatants. Night shadow however, didn't go down as easily as her pack. In fact, she seemed to absorb the energy of the wolves when they were defeated, and by the time the last one was, she had been a mixture of fiery black and spectral blue; standing at twice her initial size.

"I'll support you, Wolfie. Neji, you defend us with your rotation." Gaara sent sand in all types of shapes to support Nightshadow. Spears, wolves, drills, needles, even a woman that must have had some type of connection to Gaara. An older sister or perhaps his mother. Wolfie wasn't sure, and the facial features weren't totally concrete since she was made of sand. The woman held Kimimaro from the back, and Nightshadow plowed into him and erupted into a fiery tornado. He finally seemed hurt. Pissed, and hurt. It wasn't a good combination. If it wasn't for Neji's rotation technique, Wolfie would have been pierced when he suddenly charged with his enormous drill. It would have killed her on the spot. The three were struggling at this point. Kimimaro turned the entire area into bones and started popping out of them, but Gaara enclosed the trio in a dome of hardened sand until the attack ended. Another moment had Wolfie wrapped in a whip of bone, and only escaped with a well placed fire spell. But she was bleeding out and very dizzy. Gaara looked exhausted, and Neji no longer could perform his rotation technique.

"Eight Trigrams: Sixty-four palms!" Neji cried out his last ditch effort, but was only able to get two strikes in before being kicked aside. They were running out of options. Fast. In a last ditch effort, Gaara summoned a giant version of his, what Wolfie now assumed to be his mother based on how it guarded him and sent it to fend off Kimimaro. That had to be all Gaara had left.

"Think Wolfie…" Gaara placed an arm on Wolfie and interrupted her thought. But an odd sensation happened when he did. An imaged rushed into her mind. Gaara was dying; something being taken from his core. From deep within him. A power. No…a monster. That, was something she could use. It was a long shot, but they were long past the point of trying the rational. "Summoning…" It took every ounce of her strength, but it worked. Gaara's eyes widened when it saw what Wolfie had done. "…Shukaku!" It wasn't the actual Shukaku, but it was pretty damn close. It seemed a bit smaller, and lacked the actual Shukaku's personality, but that meant it would be more obedient. The summoned beast joined Gaara's sand giant and the two were able to match blows with Kimimaro.

"We need to seal him!" Neji called out, as Shukaku slapped Kimimaro off its arm, but was visibly weakened from strikes to its legs with Kimimaro's drill.

"Any ideas on how?" Gaara was having a hard time holding his sand's form.

"Doesn't he have any weaknesses?" By the time Wolfie asked, Gaara's sand broke down completely and instead just circled around Shukaku to power up its attacks.

"Just his love for Orochimaru." Gaara remembered how pissed he was when Gaara insulted Orochimaru previously. How he rushed in, blinded with devotion and that if he had been a more capable shinobi back then, he could have exploited that.

"Great. Go get him. I'll wait."

"He's dead." Gaara's answer made something click in Wolfie's head. She turned her attention back to the battle, where Kimimaro had been drilling steadily through the sand surrounded Shukaku's head, in order to take the summon completely out of battle.

"Yo, bone dude! Orochimaru is dead, and I heard he went out like a bitch!" Kimimaro's drill slowed down, and Kimimaro froze on site. He quaked with anger and rage, as well as some shock. He turned and began to bellow something at Wolfie. He looked like the devil itself; his anger and murderous intent were practically tangible. "Now! Wind Release: Drilling Air Bullet!" Wolfie commanded Shukaku to gather all of its energy and inhale deeply, before roaring and letting loose a powerful, point blank burst of wind and chakra so powerful that it sent Kimimaro sailing into the air and away from the battle. Shukaku vanished, and Gaara's sand returned to its gourd.

"That won't stop him." Neji remarked, as he supported the exhausted Wolfie and Gaara.

"Our mission wasn't to stop him. He's at least gone from us. "Wolfie admitted. Of course, she didn't feel right leaving such a powerful person roaming the world who was in battle mode, but it was either that or be killed. And more importantly, no one would be able to protect the wounded, and right now that was more important than battle pride.

As the dust settled Wolfie sat up tired and sore from the battle. She had a new summon in her belt and just like the others it took nearly everything out of her. Her teammates looked just as roughed up as she did but they were still alive and happy at their victory.

"You feel like a demon." Wolfie spoke up as her eyes found Gaara.

"What?" The red head asked as he lifted her up onto her feet with his sand.

"You asked earlier how I knew." She explained. "You feel like a demon, so does the loud blonde. Not exactly like a real demon, but there's something about you that feels like one." After spending so much time with Yusuke and his team, especially Hiei, Wolfie had acquired a 'sixth sense' for demons. "So what are you exactly?"

There was a long silence before Neji interrupted Wolfie's expectant look at Gaara. "We should get going now and meet up with the others."

Though she was curious to know what the red head was exactly, she also knew that her own companions would worry about her. Especially since they didn't show up with the wounded shinobi. She dropped her mini investigation and nodded at the white eyed ninja.

With only the three of them, they quickly made it back to the camp. Once they had made sure the others had made it to the medical bay they themselves were checked for injuries before being released to meet up with the others.


	32. Sage

Chris, Shikamaru, and Naruto stood at the top of a large oak tree on a very thick branch. "I didn't get a chance to give you these before we left the base camp." Shikamaru said while handing Chris two pouches and a black headband with a slab of metal in the center that read "Shinobi" in kanji. Chris thumbed through the pouches and found a supply of shuriken in one and kunai in the other. The kunai seemed to have paper with symbols written on it wrapped around the handle of each one of them but Chris didn't pay too much attention to it. He then fastened the headband around his head. The sense of pride he felt while tying it caused a smirk to shoot across his face, although nobody could tell due to the face mask he was wearing. After finally getting situated, Chris turned to his new teammates. "Welcome to the Allied Shinobi Forces. Now let's get back to business." Shikamaru said nonchalantly. Naruto nodded in agreement and flashed a toothy smile. He then looked Chris up and down for a brief moment.

"I can tell just by looking at you that you're a shinobi." He said while still grinning.

"Where is it that you're from exactly?" Shikamaru added. That question seemed to trigger a memory. The final moments of Chris's time in his world played back in his mind. The echoes of Mistuki's screams were clouding his thoughts. Without realizing it, Chris had begun to bawl his fists at his side. He couldn't help but wonder what became of the girl. But why now; why is he suddenly thinking about some girl when he should be thinking about the war at hand? An image of Cloud's face flashed in his head.

"Damn him! Who does that bastard think he is?" Chris thought. Naruto and Shikamaru both looked at Chris with puzzled expressions on their faces. It was then that Chris realized that he had completely ignored the question. "Nowhere important; let's go." He said sternly as he prepared to leap to another branch. Naruto edged closer to Shikamaru's side and leaned in.

"What's his problem?" he asked in a low voice while keeping his eyes focused on Chris.

"No idea but we don't have time to worry about that at the moment." Shikamaru replied as he continued onward through the trees. Naruto followed suit. After about fifteen minutes of silence, Shikamaru announced that they would be coming up on the border soon and to be prepared. They then sped up their pace. The forest seemed to become nothing but a blur of greenery until they finally came upon the battlefield. Chris had never seen a battle of such a large scale before. The war that was taking place on the ground was fierce. The bodies of slain men and women lay scattered across the battlefield. It was truly a horrific sight. There were hundreds, maybe even thousands, of shinobi fighting some sort of white, humanoid-plant men to which they were clearly outnumbered by. The right sides of each of the plant men's faces were disfigured. They had shaggy, green hair and the better half of their faces held maniacal jagged-toothed smiles.

"Those must be the White Zetsu's." Chris thought to himself. Mixed in with the White Zetsu army were Nobodies. The Nobodies had thin, sinuous bodies that were capable of dumbfounding feats of flexibility. They had large, cylindrical heads with flat tops that were emblazoned with the Nobody symbol. Their bodies seemed to be covered in light grey jumpsuits, and their "mouths" were actually zippers that undo themselves to reveal a grey, sharp-toothed mouth underneath. They appeared to be fairly muscular, though their arms and legs were very thin. The sides of their bodies were outlined by a black line and their feet and hands were pointed and lacked digits. Their hands each sported two black bands around them. Chris knew that regular weapons would do little to no damage to the Nobodies but was puzzled by the fact that they seemed to have formed some sort of alliance with the enemy of this world. There was no way to know what their part in this war was and this disturbed Chris deeply. He looked over at Naruto and Shikamaru who were both surveying the battlefield.

"Naruto, I want you to provide support at the frontlines. We need to push the enemy back." Shikamaru said. "We need to figure out a way to take out these Nobodies." He continued.

"I'm the only one here that can destroy them." Chris said as he took his right hand and grabbed the air above his right shoulder. A white light flashed inside of his hand and in it he held the hilt of his Assailant keyblade. He pulled the hilt further up as he drew the rest of the blade from what appeared to be a sheath of light. Naruto and Shikamaru stared wide-eyed at Chris. They had never seen such a weapon.

"Just what kind of sword is that?" Naruto asked.

"It's called a Keyblade. It's a special weapon used for destroying Heartless and Nobodies" Chris replied.

"In that case, you jump in and take out the Nobodies. That should make it easier for the rest of the soldiers to handle the White Zetsu's. Kill as many of them if necessary but don't spend too much time on them. Your top priority are those Nobodies for now." Shikamaru said. "As for me, I'll stay towards the back and work my way around until I get to the middle where we'll regroup. Understood?" He added. Chris and Naruto both nodded and replied "Yes!" in unison. The three then leaped from the trees towards the fray. While still in mid-air, Chris watched as Naruto put his hands together to form some sort of seal. Almost instantaneously, hundreds of Naruto clones appeared from shallow clouds of white smoke and flew toward the frontline. Chris didn't have time to admire that technique because he already had his eyes set on his own targets below. Groups of White Zetsu's were moving forward alongside Nobodies. Chris threw a few kunai from his pouch and planted them firmly in the foreheads of the White Zetsu's. Much to his surprise, the kunai exploded shortly after making impact. Shreds of White Zetsu's filled the air like confetti. Chris then landed and proceeded to tear into every Nobody within range with his keyblade. He dashed through the battlefield at a breakneck pace helping those in immediate need of assistance from the Nobodies. He then moved on to destroying them individually.

"Strike raid!" Chris yelled as he threw his keyblade. It flew through the air like a chakram, destroying every Nobody and White Zetsu it came into contact with. Normally the keyblade would return to Chris but something strange was happening this time. Instead of returning, his keyblade flew in a cyclonic fashion circumventing large groups of enemies and making huge gusts of wind. Before long, the gusts of wind turned into a full-blown tornado. This caught the attention of both Naruto and Shikamaru.

"Who the hell is this guy?" Naruto exclaimed as he watched dozens of Nobodies and White Zetsu's being drawn in and shredded up by the cyclone. Even Chris was surprised by his new technique. He stared in awe for a moment at the sheer force and mass destruction of his attack which was a huge mistake. It left him entirely open to the attack that ensued. Without warning, a blue orb of energy was thrusts into Chris's abdomen with such force that it threw him off of his feet and propelled him backwards; his body violently skipping across the dirt. Once he finally skidded to a halt, the excruciating pain in his insides became more apparent. His organs felt as though they were on fire. He tried to take a glimpse at his attacker. It was no good; his vision was blurred. He could feel himself losing consciousness.

"Damn it! It's happening again." Chris thought as he shakily struggled just to get himself up on all fours. Blood suddenly poured from his mouth on to the dirt. The tornado that once was his keyblade technique had dissipated. With his distorted vision he could make out what looked to be somebody engulfed in flames exchanging blows with the man that sent Chris flying moments earlier. He deduced that it must be Naruto considering he had briefly seen that form before they left the base camp. Chris's legs wobbled as he attempted to pick himself up off of the ground. When he finally managed to stand up, he almost immediately lost his balance. Impact with the ground seemed imminent but much to his surprise, he was caught. Chris's arm was then flung around someone's shoulder. It was none other than Shikamaru.

"C'mon, we have to get you to safety." Shikamaru said as he attempted to drag Chris off of the battlefield.

"No! I'm fine, just give me a sec'." Chris argued.

"You are not fine! You're more than likely-"Shikamaru said before being cut off.

"I said I'm fine!" Chris interrupted. He then weakly held out his hand and summoned the Silver Seraph keyblade. Shikamaru's eyes widened. He admired Chris's will to fight even though he was severely injured. Chris raised his keyblade towards the sky and with a weak and raspy voice called out "Cura!". A green light emitted from the tip of the keyblade and showered Chris with green leaves that turned into particles as soon as they made contact with his body. He could feel the pain in his insides subsiding. His vision returned to normal and his breathing became deeper. Chris was soon completely revitalized. He cracked his neck and his knuckles while finally being able to get a clear look at the person that dealt him a near-fatal attack. It was a tall man with waist-length, spiky white hair tied back into a pony tail with two shoulder-length bangs. He wore a horned forehead protector with the kanji for "Oil" written on it. He also had red lines that ran down from his eyes to his jaw line. He also wore a green short shirt kimono and matching pants; under which he wore mesh armor that showed out of the sleeves and legs of his outfit. His outfit was completed with hand guards, a simple black belt, traditional Japanese wooden sandals, a red cloak with two simple yellow circles, and a scroll on his back. Chris noticed something very strange about the man. His eyes (sclera included) were completely black. "Oy Shikamaru, who the hell is that guy?" Chris said while looking in the direction of the heated battle between Naruto and the no-named attacker.

"That's the Legendary Toad Sage: Jiraiya. He was also Naruto's master. He died quite some time ago." Shikamaru replied.

"How is he here if he died quite some time ago?" Chris questioned.

"Those Akatsuki bastards used a forbidden summoning jutsu called Impure World Resurrection. It makes me sick." Shikamaru replied angrily.

"Well then I guess we'll have to put his soul back to rest!" Chris yelled as he dashed forward to join Naruto. He held out his left hand and in a flash of light, summoned his Assailant keyblade. Chris then leapt over Naruto, executing three front flips. In the midst of the third flip he attempted to strike Jiraiya with both keyblades; only to collide with Jiraiya's hand guards. The force of Chris's attack caused the ground underneath Jiraiya to crack and create a small crater. Naruto saw an opening and used it to hit Jiraiya with a strong punch formed from his flame-like chakra, which sent him flying back a couple dozen feet. However, Jiraiya was unfazed by the attack. His face was cold and expressionless. Naruto charged at him and began a barrage of attacks. Shikamaru formed a seal with his hands and the shadows underneath him seemed to dance then violently lash out at Jiraiya in the form of spikes to which he agilely dodged. By this time, Naruto had created numerous clones which were being destroyed just as quickly as they would appear. Jiraiya whipped his hair at Chris which miraculously grew at will. Chris sidestepped the attack and swung Silver Seraph in hopes of cutting the hair. Much to his surprise, the hair was spiked and as hard as steel. Jiraiya whipped his hair once again. This time Chris dived over the spikes and rolled out of the way. It was then that he realized dozens of balloons attached to kunai were floating a few feet above Jiraiya, who must've noticed this too because in that same moment he cocooned his entire body in his steel hair. The balloons suddenly exploded sending numerous kunai and shuriken flying at a steel hair-encased Jiraiya, causing them to deflect and fall to the ground. While this was happening, Chris could hear a loud, bell-like screech. He turned and watched as Naruto channeled a blue orb in each hand, along with two more in the palms of the flaming chakra hands extending from his back. These blue orbs looked similar to the one Jiraiya hit Chris with except for the four points of white energy surrounding them giving the appearance of shuriken and the sound they were emitting. This technique was known as the Wind Style: Rasen Shuriken. Jiraiya finally emerged from his impenetrable cocoon when he heard the sound of Naruto's impending attack. His body jerked upwards in an attempt to dodge but it was as if his feet were melded to the ground. Shikamaru was in a crouched position with his fingers intertwined forming a seal of some kind. His shadow was conjoined with Jiraiya's making it impossible for him to move.

"Now!" Shikamaru screamed. On command, Naruto hurled the four energy orbs all at once. As soon as he released them from his hands they began to expand at an alarming rate. Chris had been airborne directly over Jiraiya from the moment Shikamaru gave the signal. Both of his hands pushed outward and Silver Seraph spinning rapidly. The four Rasen Shuriken connected with Jiraiya's body and in that same instant Chris had created a force field, containing what would have been a massive explosion of energy, into a dome of white light surrounding Jiraiya. The damage caused to him was so severe that it completely obliterated his entire being. When the light had faded, there was nothing left but smoke and charred earth.


	33. The New Green Beast

Nick sat under a tree just outside the camp that Konoha had set up for the war. He started to ponder the events that had occurred just before the group had gotten to the new world. The fight with Leon had made him realize just how weak he was. How could they be defeated by another group that easily? He was defeated by someone who didn't even have a keyblade. It would be almost infuriating if it weren't for the fact that he had been the one to get beaten senseless by him. Nick knew that getting mad at the situation wouldn't help at all. They spared them and running back to fight them would be an embarrassing suicide attempt even if they were just testing them. If they wanted to give us time to train until we meet again, he was going to use it to its full potential. The next time wouldn't be a smooth victory for them. Nick would make sure of that as he picked up a rock and crushed it in his hands.

As he sat there thinking, he had not noticed the pale blonde come from the camp. Once he noticed her, he realized it was his teammate, Temari. She was wearing a black kimono with red detailing. She had her hair tied back with her Shinobi Alliance headband with her bangs parted to show off the symbol. He didn't have to study her to know that her weapon of choice must have been that huge fan on her back. The only thing about her that looked dangerous from where Nick sat was her green eyes studying everything he did. He didn't react to her presence which seemed to bother her. She was sure she had snuck up on him.

"Are you just going to sit there or are you going to introduce yourself?" Temari announced clearly irritated by his nonchalant attitude.

"Sorry, I have some things that I am trying to sort out." He hopped up and bowed his head in apology. "I am Nick, and I'm here to help you guys gain an upper hand on your war by dealing with the heartless and nobodies. Is that fan of yours for cooling people off?"

"I'm Temari, and it isn't like we even needed your help. And my fan is a lot more effective than you think. Don't make me show you."

"Woah, easy there Temari. I guess I should mention that I like to joke around. I like the serious intent though. I really got the feeling that you were going to kill me. I have a feeling we are going to be great friends." Nick put his hands up in surrender. He gave her a wink as he stretched out a bit.

"As if, shrub head. You are acting as if this is all a game! This is serious! People are losing their lives!" Temari shouted at him.

"I know. I know how serious this is. I just handle things differently than most people. I've got a lot to deal with right now. Once we start fighting, I'll get serious. But I am sorry for acting as if this was a joke. I'll fight with my life on the line to help you guys get the situation in control. By the way, weren't we supposed to leave like twenty minutes ago? Where is out team leader?" Nick questioned looking around. Temari had scoffed when Nick said leader.

Suddenly, from the woods, a kunai flew between the two teenagers. Nick reacted quick and pushed Temari backwards as a screaming lunatic came from the camp, yelling, "Leaf Whirlwind!" Nick caught a flash of green before he was roundhouse kicked backwards about forty to fifty feet into the mud. Nick jumped up with his keyblade summoned ready to fight. His assailant was wearing a green jump suit with orange leg warmers, wristbands and headband which was tied around his waist as a belt. He had a green flak jacket over the jump suit. His bowl cut and bushy eyebrows were unmistakable as Nick realized that it was Gai, the guy that was to lead them on their mission.

"What was that for?" Nick screamed as he trudged out of the mud.

"In the springtime of youth, you should always be prepared for unexpected attacks by an enemy! You should better yourself by training!" Gai announced with a thumbs up, a wide smile, and a wink. Nick could have sworn there was a gleam in his teeth.

"I don't have a change of clothes and now I am covered in mud!" Nick said, brushing off the sludge still attached.

"That was pretty immature of me. But your aura gives off lightning and it reminded me of my rival, Kakashi! You tried to protect the lady though and that shows guts! Let me offer you something because I like your style! I'll give you this!" Gai declared his speech as he searched his jacket and pulled out a jumpsuit.

Nick's eyes widened in shock as he stammered, "You carry around extra clothes?"

"Of course! This is state of the art! It's breathable, retains moisture, and offers complete freedom of movement all in one sweet package! If you wear it while you train, you'll notice the difference immediately! Soon, you'll start wanting to wear it all the time, just like Lee! I've got a bit of a thing for it myself!" Gai proclaimed with pride.

Nick still looked shocked and glanced at Temari in disbelief. She was laughing herself into tears. "I think I have an extra kimono I can let you borrow if you really want to go that route, shrub head." Temari grabbed her sides and continued to laugh hysterically.

"Fine! I'll wear the jumpsuit. Gai, if you would please!" Nick said loudly, holding out his hand for the jumpsuit.

"Ok! Here are the leg warmers and wrist bands that go with it. Now, go put that on in your springtime of youth! It is time to train like you have never trained before!" Gai did his little smile, wink, and thumbs up combo which Nick decided was his nice guy pose. Nick slumped away thoroughly depressed to a dressing tent. He came out in the whole outfit with his head down and slumped fully over. Gai had tears coming from his eyes as he slapped Nick on the back and announced, "Another Green Beast has joined the ranks! Now as master, I promise to train you through your springtime of youth until you surpass me!"

"Let's just leave. Now, before anyone sees me in this god forsaken outfit. I gave my clothes to someone to wash so hopefully I'll change before anyone from my group sees me in this ridiculous get-up." Nick sighed as they began to run down the road. Gai took point and Temari jumped through the trees to get a look out further up ahead. Nick felt that the group had come together nicely as he had always been the type to watch his back and make sure that nothing came from behind. Nick couldn't help but think as they moved into a warzone. One question constantly returned to his thoughts. How could this group possibly fight together with a dimwit leader, a girl with an oversized fan, and an emasculated keyblade wielder?

It answered itself though as the travel through the woods had been smooth sailing no matter what presented itself between Zetsu, heartless, and nobodies. The group worked too well together. The fan on Temari's back should have been Nick's first clue but after watching her fight, she obviously had control over wind. She was a long range specialist that could handle her own if anyone came into close quarters by slicing them to pieces with razor sharp wind. Gai was a close ranged genius with incredible amounts of strength. All that training talk showed its face as he could clobber anything, any size with just his fists. His speed was top notch too. He would confuse his opponents with his speed and overpower them in seconds. Nick kept with his usual approach of using his strength to power the enemies away from him while he took them out from afar with magic. The three made a team that could crush anything that stood in their way. The team had to take a break at the edge of the woods to gather what intelligence they had acquired about the enemies.

"There was word of zombie ninja's from the group we had saved a few miles back." Nick panted as he took a seat under the tree.

"The Impure World Resurrection technique is what is bringing them back. It is practically invincible. Nothing as simple as zombies or whatever you called them." Temari said as she rolled her eyes. "The only way to beat them is to seal them while they are regenerating. They have all the abilities and the knowledge of when they were alive without the free will. They also regenerate extremely fast."

"It's actually strange. We haven't seen anyone under that technique this entire time. We have covered a ton of ground. It's like they know we are out here. Madara must be trying to protect his troops." Gai rambled on intellectually for one in Nick's opinion.

"That is weird. It would make sense to pull your power players until you find the right one to destroy your opposition." Nick leaned his head against the tree trying to figure the entire thing out. Temari gasped all of sudden as she was looking at a tree and took off for the desert. Nick jumped up and took a look at the tree. It had Temari carved into it deeply with sap running down as if it were blood. It was obviously fresh, yet they had seen nothing. There where gold flakes inside the sap seeping down although Nick had no idea what that could even mean.

"Gai, catch up to here. This could mean trouble. I'll be right behind you." Nick ordered as Gai disappeared. Nick took another look and noticed her headband had been cut off with a line through the symbol. Nick picked it up and ran after his comrades.

They ended up staring at an older man who looked to be in his forties. He was wearing a black collared shirt with a fishnet undershirt. He also wore black slacks. He stood there with his arms crossed looking down from a dune. His hair was brown and it was a mess. He looked stern, and Nick could see the fear in Temari's face. This was what caused her irrational behavior.

"That's the Third Kazekage. He's definitely our opponent. Nick, be extremely careful. He is powerful. This is going to be a problem. To make it worse, we are in his terrain." Gai whispered with caution.

"That is also my father." Temari stuttered out in utter fear of what her father would say.

"Whoever is behind this entire attack is sick, forcing a daughter to fight her father. Are you going to be able to hold up against him Temari?" Nick asked, risking a glance at her face again.

"Yes, Temari. How are you going to handle this situation?" The Kazekage said with a smug expression. Temari tensed up as she realized that her father had to be in control enough to talk to them.

"I'll be fine, father. I guess I can pay you back for what you did to cause Gaara all that pain over the years!" She yelled grabbing her fan. The Kazekage made a quick motion with his hands and a sandstorm kicked up. Nick couldn't see anything but he ran in the direction he last saw the Kazekage, climbing the dune. He jumped up to the top and fired a Thundagun in the direction of the Kazekage. He didn't hear any sounds of impact so he knew he had missed. He swung a few times in the direction that he saw the shadow of the Kazekage but to no avail. He threw his keyblade forward in a Strike Raid and still missed. Nick barely caught Temari's voice over the sand, "He's using the sand to detect movement and avoiding you completely because of it! Get down!"

Nick dived to the ground and slid down the dune as the sand was completely blown away and the dune was sliced to pieces. It began to collapse on top of him. He forced his way through the sand and noticed that Temari had been circling high above on her fan. She just landed when she swung her fan to summon the weasel that caused all this destruction. He caught another flash of green as he saw bandages flowing through geysers of sand from Gai's footprints. He kicked the Kazekage into the air and quickly followed him with a jump. The bandages wrapped around the Kazekage and Gai began spinning towards the ground. He launched the Kazekage at the last second and landed a few feet away from the impact. "Primary Lotus!"

There was a loud crunch. Gai had a puzzled look on his face when he pushed away from the impact zone with all of his strength yet he was too late. The scorpion tail was too fast and had paralyzed Gai instantly and he tumbled a few hundred feet from his push away. "We need to get to Gai!" Nick yelled to Temari when the Kazekage appeared in front of him with two kunai in his hands unleashing an assault. The giant scorpion scuttled towards Temari snapping its claws and striking with its tail. This put Temari and Nick on completely defensive styles. They had to focus because one false step could kill them. Nick had to try to get to Gai to at least attempt to heal him. He called out to Temari to summon her weasel so she could handle the two on her own which after a few more second of dodging, she obliged. The weasel began to attack the scorpion viciously by pulling it into the air and spinning it around as its blades clanged off the armor. Temari swung her closed fan as Nick back flipped over it which hit her father away. "Thanks! I'll be back in a second!"

Nick ran over to Gai and looked at him. He was completely paralyzed and had a few broken bones from his tumbled across a few hundred feet. Nick knew his cure spell was definitely not strong enough to fully heal him but he had to try. He cast cure which almost completely exhausted him. Nick didn't have time to see how it was working because he knew Temari could only handle so much. He noticed that the weasel was being overcome. He also saw the damage that was caused when the Kazekage crashed against the exoskeleton. He decided to exploit that while Temari continued to fight her father off. Nick sprinted toward the scorpion and slid under one claw to get its attention. Then he jumped sideways in another flip and charged his keyblade with electricity. He deflected the tail as it flew towards him while he was in midair. Nick strike raided the damaged spot which caused the damage to increase. He summoned his keyblade back and fired off two more strike raids before he cleared the back in his flip. Nick landed and turned to see the scorpion turning around with incredible agility. It scuttled towards Nick snapping its claws until he heard a devastating crunch and saw Gai standing on top of the scorpions back. He had delivered a punch so powerful that it decommissioned the scorpion in one blow.

Nick turned around and watched as Temari dodged a close call. Gai came from nowhere once again and punched the Kazekage with the same strength that just killed the scorpion. Temari started to prep to seal him until she looked into his eyes and froze. Gai had fallen to his knees due to him releasing what he called the fifth gate. Nick was trying to help him up. He noticed that Temari wasn't moving towards her father at all. In fact, she had been shaking relentlessly. Nick started to run towards Temari when the Kazekage kicked her away. Fully healed, he cracked his neck and summoned a sand like golden substance.

"That's my dad's ultimate technique. He can control gold. It is extremely deadly. I'm sorry I failed you guys. I just couldn't." Temari said. She seemed to have regained her composure.

"Don't worry about it. It takes a lot of courage to be able to stand against your parents." Nick summoned his keyblade. He charged the Kazekage who had happened to morph his sand into an exact replica of Nick's keyblade.

"I like the way this weapon looks. It gives me the feeling that you are a lot more dangerous than you actually are." The Kazekage deflected Nick's blow and they began to attack back and forth. It looked to be completely even other than the fact that the Kazekage had more than enough gold to extend spears towards Nick. So he was forced to dodge while trying to get the upper hand. He kept getting nicked and sliced by the constant spears while he was completely focused on the Kazekage's bizarre attacks. The Kazekage smirked and started leaving the spears in place to block Nick's attacks yet his attacks morphed through easily. Nick was at a complete disadvantage. He finally decided to try out the attack that he has been planning since his loss from Leon. Nick made some distance from his opponent. He started charging his keyblade full of electricity and summoned it into a huge lightning charged blade. It was easily twelve feet long yet it was light and easy to swing. He rushed in and started swinging which easily got through the gold which made a great conductor. He hit the Kazekage through the initial surprise that it passed right through. He was blasted backwards, sliding through the sand. The Kazekage started sending spikes at Nick. The keyblade emitted a discharge with a static circle around him. As soon as the spike entered the sphere, Nick knew where it was and how fast it was going. Nick quickly deflected it and began moving towards him. The Kazekage tried a few more times which each missed either through deflection or just completely missed. Inside the sphere, Nick was extremely fast and could dodge anything that came his way. He finally worked his way to the Kazekage and realized that the sphere had more effects than he thought as it shocked him enough to stop him.

"Gai's about to finish this! Keep him still!" Temari yelled who had been trying to help Gai. Nick widely swung his blade which let out a huge slash of electricity that completely paralyzed the Kazekage. Nick was left back to normal and completely exhausted. Gai appeared in front of him facing the Kazekage.

"Noon Tiger." Gai punched him one time and the shockwave knocked Nick so far back that he wound up in the forest completely dazed until he passed out.

When he woke up, he rushed to where they had been fighting and noticed that the Kazekage was still laid out completely paralyzed. He had been talking to Temari and mentioned that he loved her. He was just testing her and her team to make sure she was growing up right. He had also explained things about Gaara and everything. Temari was crying as she sealed her father. Nick walked up and rubbed her back as she stood and embraced him. Nick stood there feeling completely awkward until she started laughing at his outfit again. The team decided that it was time to return to the camp and see how everyone else was doing on the search.


	34. Prelude to a Broken Sky

"Who is there?" Sasuke sensed someone standing near the cave's entrance. Jugo was still in no condition to fight, but luckily Darryl managed to heal himself, Suigetsu, and Sasuke. The trio stepped out and came face to face with their intruders; Kakashi, Thomas, and Rock Lee.

"You damn heartless made a clone of my friend?" Darryl's words confused Thomas. He wasn't a heartless.

"What do you mean? I'm me…" Kakashi waved off Thomas' statement.

"Don't bother, Thomas." He's under a Genjutsu. If I can get close enough, I can get him out of it. But Sasuke isn't exactly going to let me do that. You distract him and-"Something compelled Thomas to interrupt, as he stared down his friend.

"No…I'll fight Darryl. You take on Sasuke." Kakashi didn't argue. He saw the determination in his eyes. But it worried him. It reminded him of Naruto and Sasuke's relationship. Thomas talked a bit about Darryl beforehand and himself, and the similarities were frightening. Two powerful friends, from different backgrounds who both had something to protect. Darryl had Sasuke's pride, which made sense considering he was apparently a prince, but he also had Naruto's strong bond of friendship. Thomas had Sasuke's need to prove something, but he had Naruto's ability to encourage himself. They could easily go the way of his former students. Kakashi uncovered his Sharingan, and Darryl glared at him.

"Amaterasu!" Darryl started the fight by sending out jet black flames towards the trio.

"Lightning Release: Proud roar!" Thomas retaliated with his own version of Kakashi's Lightning Beast Running technique. He thrusted his keyblade forward, and released a lion shaped Chidori blast. Vortex of fire and lightning erupted into the area, and the fight continued. Kakashi and Sasuke were locked in their own Chidori battle, while Suigetsu was busy trying to land a strike on the fast Rock lee.

Darryl was faster than Thomas, but Thomas' dual keyblade style put them on even ground. Neither of them could land a strike on each other. "Stop!" Thomas froze Darryl in his tracks, and jumped up for an aerial strike.

"Never!" Darryl broke out of the spell by expelling magic energy, which resulted in a geyser of water. Thomas managed to dodge the blow and continue his strike, which knocked Darryl into the ground.

"You give u-"Before Thomas could finish, Darryl shot up and sprinted towards him. Even though he blocked, the force of the blow sent him sliding along the ground; landing on his feet a small distant away. Darryl then entered a stance that Thomas knew all too well. The two both trained together before the Makai tournament, but never got a chance to use the moves they helped each other develop. Darryl's keyblade glowed golden. Thomas entered a similar stance, and his keyblades began to glow red.

"Royal hunter!" Darryl shot forward, surrounded in energy that resembled a crown.

"Run the city!" Thomas charged forward, jumping and leaping off what seemed like midair; leaving an energy city in his wake. The two attacks collided, spewing energy bricks from the city and jewels from the crown. Darryl recovered just in time to help Sasuke perform the Amaterasu with Sasuke against Kakashi, and Thomas was in time to stop the fire while Kakashi warped it away.

Darryl entered the water herald command style, while Thomas entered his 7 gate mode. Thomas charged at Darryl; connecting with a powerful slash that knocked him upward. Thomas leapt after him to perform a cross slash, but Darryl managed to freeze him before he reached him and knocked Thomas back to the ground. He was inches away from tasting the earth…when Rock Lee came up and caught him, while entering his 6th gate mode and simultaneously tossed him back into the sky. Suigetsu enlarged his arm and tossed his sword to Darryl, and the four blades met and at a stalemate.

"King's Cross!" Darryl slashed his two weapons in a cross shaped pattern.

"Assault!" Thomas rapidly swung his keyblades and the two warriors fell from the sky. Darryl immediately recovered and jumped back up, and water surrounded him. "I don't think so!" Thomas jumped after Darryl, whom was charging his technique.

"Vortex Lotus!" Thomas threw his keyblades and they surrounded Darryl in a typhoon of cutting energy, which directed him towards the ground. But he did manage to initiate his technique. A wall of water slammed into Thomas and pushed him down towards the ground as well. Before they hit, both of them managed to escape their attacks; Thomas running up the water and Darryl beating Thomas' keyblades back. But they were both back to normal.

"I'll show you something exciting!" Darryl began to activate his Demon drive form.

"Bring it!" Thomas began to enter his lion's onslaught mode. And that was when he saw Kakashi grab Darryl and focus.

"Release!" Once Kakashi found just how deep the Genjutsu placed on Darryl ran, he was able to dispel it completely. Immediately, Darryl was overrun with the truth of the events that transpired over the few days he travelled with Sasuke. He didn't see himself slaying heartless; he saw himself slaying the actual shinobi whom had aligned themselves with his friends. He fully focused and heard Itachi try to bring his brother away from the darkness. And most importantly, he finally could feel the high level of killing intent that Sasuke portrayed. His eyes opened wide to this new found information. Sasuke realized what had happened to, and his face just read oh shit. Kakashi managed to knock him into some rubble with a shadow clone, which was how he was able to run over and release Darryl. The fighting halted completely.

"You used me. You manipulated me." Darryl's voice trembled with anger as he spoke. His hand was clutched hard enough to make his hands bleed. Almost immediately, Darryl transformed into his demon drive, and shot a massive wave of Amaterasu towards Sasuke. "I'll kill you!" The flames nearly hit their mark, but Sasuke grabbed Suigetsu and disappeared in a flash of fire.

"Damn. He got away." Kakashi sighed as he resealed his Sharingan, and patted Thomas on the back. "Well, it's over now. You got your friend back, and it looks like he could use you." Thomas stared off at Darryl while Kakashi spoke to him. He was grateful to have him back to normal. But a part of him felt…unfulfilled. It was like, whenever he looked at his shattered dreams keyblade, an odd sense of fury overwhelmed him. There was no reason why he had to stop fighting Darryl. If he attacked him now, Darryl would defend himself. The fight would continue.

"…Yeah. Right." Thomas shook his head and the thoughts out of it. Darryl was dealing with a lot of grief right now, and Thomas had to be there for him. "You okay?" Thomas tapped Darryl on the back.

"Yeah…I'll be alright. Let's just get back to the others. Fill me in on the way." Something changed inside Darryl, and something changed inside Thomas. It was obvious to everyone at this point, except maybe Darryl and Thomas themselves. The group of four headed back towards HQ where the others were waiting, while Thomas caught Darryl up to speed on what had happened thus far.


	35. The Power of a Uchiha

"Hey, you finally found Darryl." The group had been back at the Allied Shinobi Forces HQ for quite some time. Darryl, Thomas, Rock Lee, and Kakashi however, had been in the mission debrief room. The leaders of the shinobi, referred to as Kages, were attempting to get information from Darryl about Sasuke due to the time he spent with him. They didn't get much though. Sasuke's Tsukiyomi had a very powerful effect on Darryl and he mostly just had blurs and large gaps in his memory. They had finally given up, and let the two keyblade warriors return to their friends. Darryl said nothing, but simply nodded in his direction. He had been quiet ever since he recovered from the Tsukiyomi.

"Alright, well let's get you guys into a squad and continue on with this war." The shinobi whom introduced himself as Kankuro spoke to the keyblade warriors.

"Shut up, Kankuro." For some reason, Darryl took an instant dislike towards the puppet master. "We have no place in this war and we aren't participating. We're going to take our leave now."

"If you aren't with us, then you're against us, and as captain of the Surprise Attack Division, I will capture you all." Kankuro pulled out one of his puppets and began to make motions as if he were about to attack. Darryl said nothing, but summoned his keyblade, and pointed it directly at him. His arm began bleeding slightly and turned to a burnt state, and he unleashed a stream of Amaterasu that completely consumed the puppet, and hit Kankuro's side. He roared in pain and plopped down to the ground. A few medics rushed in and began healing the Captain while dragging him off to the infirmary.

"He's right though. You lot don't belong in our affairs. Now run along." The man known as the Tsuchikage spoke. The group had a relatively nice send off, all things considering. In fact, minus the fact that Gaara had glared at Darryl for nearly the entire time and Gai gave Nick the green jumpsuit that he was trying to leave behind in front of everyone, and referred to how good he looked in it, the send off was completely perfect.

The group managed to navigate through the trees with ease. That might have been because of the fact that they grew so accustomed to doing it while traveling with the shinobi. Kim had sensed a dark portal somewhere in the area so that was the direction that they were headed in. At first, they used to think it was strange that these portals kept opening, but as Kim got stronger, she was able to sense that someone was purposely leaving them open. The only question was who. Once they got to the area where the portal was, they found themselves face to face with another one of these….revived shinobi. The figure had long black hair with some type of red armor, with a Sharingan in both eyes. He radiated power.

"Apparently, you've been mucking things up in this world." The figure spoke to them.

"…Madara Uchiha." Darryl figured the only reason he knew who he was, was due to the information that Sasuke implanted. "We might be in trouble." As soon as Darryl said that, Madara summoned a massive Susanoo with two bodies conjoined at the back.

"I think we passed might be a while ago." Thomas stared in disbelief at the power that was Madara.

"Drive: Demon!" Darryl transformed into his demon drive form and took off towards Madara.

"7th gate…open!" Nick and Thomas cried out in unison as they both turned a bright red and zipped off after Darryl.

"Summon: Shukaku!" Wolfie summoned the beast in a swirl of sand and rode on it into battle.

"Lion blade!" An energy lion appeared over Kim's keyblade as she rushed after the group.

"Drive: Fox tails!" Chris' body was consumed with an orange energy that resembled a fox with three tails, and ran on all fours after his friends.

The six of them rushed at Madara and attempted to connect with a powerful attack of their own. However, Madara simply had his Susanoo swing its arms and blow each of them several feet back.

"Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation." Madara's voice was calm; almost as if the battle was a chore. The group found themselves staring down a large tidal wave of fire that was rapidly barreling towards them.

"Shit…dodge!" Thomas seemingly charged directly towards the flames, before jumping at the last minute and soaring over them. Nick jumped straight into the air, and when he noticed he hadn't gained enough height to escape the massive flames, he used his keyblade as a platform and double jumped. Darryl simply sank into the ground to avoid the blast, where as Chris used his three fox tails as grappling hooks and linked to a nearby tree to zip away.

"Kim, come here!" Wolfie grabbed Kim's hand and the two sank into her Shukaku summon, which proceeded to turn into a hard orb of sand. The fire faded with the group relatively unharmed, but spooked considering the fact that they could have died from one hit of that move. Darryl emerged from underground directly in front of Madara; right arm beginning to bleed.

"Amaterasu inferno!" Darryl consumed Madara in a tornado of black fire and zipped away to avoid being hit.

"Not bad for a non-Uchiha. Let me show you how it's done." All of Darryl's fire condensed into a tiny ball which Madara flung at Darryl with such speed that he was barely able to phase into the earth. The sphere hovered over Darryl's spot in the earth and erupted into an explosion that traveled through the rock and knocked Darryl out of it. He flew into the air and landed; reverting back to normal. Using the Amaterasu left Madara open enough for Thomas to position himself directly overtop the Uchiha.

"Roar!" As Thomas began his descent, his two keyblades parallel and in a downward slash motion, Madara began summoning a forest to block his attack. His attack slimed into the threes with such force that the area was filled with a loud roar He tore through the trees until he nearly connected with Madara. Suddenly, without warning, hand symbols, or change in stance, Madara shot a fireball point blank into Thomas, which sent him out of his 7 gates and towards the ground. Hard. Nick helped Thomas up and pushed him out of his way. He then began to vibrate his body and keyblade in place, before throwing it at Madara.

"Disintegration Raid!" Nick's keyblade was vibrating so strongly that it actually ripped apart the earth in its wake. While it sailed within the air, Nick returned to his normal form. Madara hit the keyblade back with the blade from his Susanoo however, and it failed to do any damage. Wolfie on the other hand, made her summon use its Tailed Beast Ball at Madara. It did make him take an insignificant step back, but he remained widely unfazed. It did manage to use up all of Wolfie's summon time and cause Shukaku to fade away.

"Chris, come here!" Kim and Chris lined their keyblades up.

"Limit: Running rampage!" Kim's lion blade drive and Chris' fox tails drive joined together to form a creation that was a mixture of the two, and it ran at Madara.

"Go away." Madara used his Sharingan and actually took control of their beast and vanquished it.

"Well…that was pretty anticlimactic." Chris sighed, as the group joined back up together.

"So…we can't win. All agreed?" Wolfie looked at Madara and sighed a little. The group nodded their head in agreement. The portal had been behind Madara the entire time. "Run?" Wolfie motioned toward the portal.

"Oh…Fuck…" Nick directed everyone's attention toward the sky, where two gigantic meteors had been falling towards them thanks to Madara.

"Well, we lived a great life." Darryl's mouth was still open wide in disbelief. They had no other option at this point. They rushed to find a way to get around Madara and fast. Once they all rushed at once, they decided to split up and shuffle around while diving and sliding around Madara. The only one who got touched was Nick, who was punched high into the air.

"Thomas-kun; catch me!" Nick plummeted directly towards Thomas. Thomas caught him in his arms, much to everyone's surprise.

"You had me at Thomas-kun." Thomas followed the rest of the group into the portal with Nick in his arms, just as the meteors exploded into the ground. It was too close of a call.


	36. Good Fortune

"Why does this always happen?" Chris groaned while the group plummeted from the sky towards the ground. He had a point, the group had to admit. They really had to get a handle on how these dark portals functioned.

"Is that a…platform?" Thomas was the first one to point out there was some type of large, half-circle shaped platform suspended in mid-air, with a long tower beneath it.

"That's floating in midair? Yeah, It is. But honestly, are you surprised by anything that we go through anymore?" Darryl barely acknowledged the fact that the group was plummeting towards their doom. No one really did to be honest. It wasn't as though Kim had fully grasped her ability to use the dark portals anyway.

"Well let's just try to land on that...thing." Wolfie pointed towards the large platform and attempted to move towards it. They all did; but realized that they were failing.

"So we failed epically at that right? Glad we can agree. Let's just continue falling to our demise now." Nick shrugged nonchalantly. These things tended to work themselves out for them so far.

"Well, we haven't died from falling from extreme heights thus far. Maybe we'll get lucky again." Chris said as impact with the ground seemed imminent.

Almost immediately after Chris' statement, the group's keyblades began to glow with a dull, golden hue and images began to be projected into their brains. Images of people soaring effortlessly through the sky without wings, but their own power. The keyblades were an odd thing; functioning not only as a weapon but as translators and even information hubs as needed. It was why the group never had to question how they could understand the different languages that the various worlds spoke, or how they could even survive in the particular world's environment. Granted, they were limited to whatever the keyblade decided to tell them...at least until they became keyblade masters like Sora and the gang.

The six came to a sudden stop in mid air.

"Are we flying?" Wolfie kicked her feet a bit as though she were sitting on a stool and couldn't quite reach the ground; in amusement.

"Whee! Jin would be so proud!" Kim whipped through the air as though this had come naturally to her. The keyblades had temporarily gave them the ability to fly until they left this world, and Kim certainly intended to use every last bit of her limited time with the ability. However, the bewilderment quickly faded for the group and they all decided to land on the platform that was previously pointed out by Thomas.

"So where are we exactly?" Chris scratched his head while surveying his surroundings.

"My, that is a good question. Here's a better one. What the fuck are you doing on the lookout?" The voice belonged to an angry, short man that had half of his height come from his hair.

"It's like an angrier Hiei..." Thomas muttered under his breath.

"Mother of god, what level of hell have we entered? May God have mercy on us all..." Nick mockingly cowered in fear, which only served to make the warrior clad in blue angrier, if that was even possible.

"Don't insult Hiei like that." Wolfie looked around and enjoyed the scenery; barely paying attention to the conversation at hand.

"You're only so defensive because you had his di-"

"Don't fucking ignore the Prince of all Saiyans!" Nick's statement was interrupted by the so called Prince of Saiyans suddenly becoming consumed by a golden flame and powering up.

"Whoa..." Thomas had fallen into a state of amazement.

"Vegeta! That is no way to treat a guest!" A man in an orange gi addressed the now powered down man. "Hi, my name is Goku. Sorry about Vegeta; he's just really tense because you came at a bad time." The group followed Goku towards the building that was on top of, what Goku called the lookout, and began explaining the situation to the keyblade wielders.

"So, the guys who you all defeated, were revived by the Dragon Balls, and are running amuck throughout the world, right?" Chris had been paying close attention to Goku's words.

"Pretty much." Goku seemed much too excitable to be a warrior, but the group could tell that something was different about him. That he was much more powerful than he seemed; even more powerful than the one known as Vegeta and that was saying something.

"I'm so tired of fighting resurrected people..." Nick said, verbally echoing what everyone was thinking. "And who is the old leather bag?" Goku managed to introduce everyone else except an elderly, midget woman dressed in a witch's garb.

"You would be wise to show respect to Fortune Teller Baba!" The old woman floated atop her crystal ball; taking special care to slam into Nick's head as she passed him. "I don't just tell fortunes you know. I can read your very spirits."

"Really now? Sounds...interesting. Prove it." Darryl stepped up and grinned. Baba stared directly at her crystal ball, which reflected Darryl in its gaze.

"The prince. Your spirit flows like water; protecting your heart with ice. Friendship; gives light like Angels. Guilt; heart lost in darkness, living among demons. Darkness; bare the fangs of the dragon as you fight it. Protection; guarding with the ferocity of the tiger. Confidence; trusting in your own power is the key to the wings of beginning." Baba had been referring mostly to Darryl's drive forms, he had assumed. But he had no idea what she meant by the wings of beginning.

"Oooo, spooky. Me next." Wolfie's interest had been unleashed in all actuality by the surprisingly accuracies in her analysis of Darryl.

"The gang leader. Your heart hardened with darkness, fueling the fire that is your spirit. Like a magnet, those who you meet fall in line one by one; marching in sync with your commands. Neither heaven nor hell, nor any distance in between could keep you from commanding your legion. Even objects not given the power of animation are willing to rush to aid you." Wolfie's head tilted to the side in confusion at Baba's words of inanimate objects, but assumed it had something to do with her summoning ability.

Chris quickly stepped up in front of Baba. "I'll go next."

"The warrior of the shadows. Your spirit flows freely, like the wind. It allows you to use the very air itself as a weapon. But your sphere of influence does not end there. The very environment which you dwell in is yours to command. Push and pull, lift and lower, all according to your will. "Chris didn't say anything, but began imagining the potential in manipulating objects.

"Um...can I go next?" Kim was barely able to contain her excitement in what Baba would say about her.

"The hostess. A heart soaked in darkness is not necessarily a heart consumed with evil. Shadows twist and dance for you. They embrace you, because you are not afraid to embrace them. Move through the darkness effortlessly, because you depend on it as much as it depends on you." Kim had no idea how the darkness depended on her, but it certainly sounded important.

"Go on; tell the legacy of Nick." Nick boasted.

"The guardian. A heart surging with electricity, granting you power. Through magic, all elements are yours to command. Your friends may dabble in the elements, but you have plunged full force into the arts. Magic abilities never seen before are awaiting for you to grasp them; mixing elements never thought possible together." Nick had thought about using different magic attacks together, but he never was quite able to master it.

"Best for last." Admittedly, Thomas had seemed a bit...distracted since they arrived to this world.

"The free runner. A powerful storm brews within your heart. You have studied and learned from your peers. Always watching silently, growing. Even abilities you once thought were lost to you can be recovered and retrieved. "Thomas wasn't paying too close attention to what Baba was saying and decided to analyze it later. He was much too preoccupied with his own thoughts.

"What's that room?" Darryl had been pointing to the only door that they hadn't opened during their tour of the lookout.

"Oh; that's the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. It's a training room where a whole year goes by in one day. I'm currently working on expanding the food supply so that more than two people could go in at once." Dende had remained silent for most of the tour save for this moment. He simply seemed panicked which, given the crisis at hand, made sense. After all; not only were these revived warriors more powerful than before, but some were even working in pairs.

"So...if we help you fix this up and get rid of these revived bad guys...can we use this?" Darryl was more than pleased to see that Dende had accepted his bargain.

"Okay Thomas, you go with Vegeta to make sure he doesn't succumb to Babidi again." Vegeta said nothing against Goku's plan, but looked visually annoyed.

"Just make sure you can keep up, brat." Vegeta flew off into the air, with Thomas following close behind.

"Nick and Chris, you two go with Gohan and Trunks. Erm, Future Trunks. And go together since Super Buu and Cooler have started to work together for some reason." With that, the four flew off together for their battle.  
"And since Darryl is staying here to help Dende work on the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, Kim and Wolfie will come with me and Buu to stop Android 17 and Cell since they've managed to form a team up for some reason. Everyone hang on." Goku placed his two fingers on his forehead, and used his Instant Transmission Technique to transport them away.

"Well...shall we get started then?" Once the rest of the warriors flew off in their own different directions to help where needed, Dende lead Darryl towards the Hyperbolic Time Chamber.


	37. Broken Sky

"I didn't know you could expand dimensions." Dende had been working with Bulma and Darryl on enhancing the effects of the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. He had directed his question at Darryl, since the whole thing was Bulma's idea.

"I don't. I'm just a fast learner." While it was true that Darryl was contributing quite a bit, his mind was roaming elsewhere. Distracted. "You can feel it, can't you?" Finally, Darryl couldn't take it anymore. "The Darkness in Thomas' heart, and the guilt in mine." Dende paused for a moment, but nodded. There was no point in hiding it anymore. "It's bad enough that I wasn't able to protect him from his own darkness, its bad enough that I slaughtered all those innocent people, but the fight between us unlocked something inside him. I made it stronger." Darryl was referring to the events that happened in the previous world.

"People make mistakes." Bulma chimed in. She was clearly better at talking to people than Dende was who had resorted to simply looking down in introverted shame. "Hell, my husband used to be one of the biggest baddies we've ever faced. The bad that you've done isn't the important thing. It's how you decide to repent. You can start by sticking by Thomas' side. It's never too late to bring light into the darkness." Bulma's words made him smile quite a bit, for the first time in a while. He would bring Thomas from the darkness, and would start as soon as he got back from his mission with Vegeta.

The two flew off the lookout in silence, with Vegeta leading and Thomas following a little far behind. Vegeta flying very annoyed because Thomas wasn't used to flying yet. The two remained silent for what seemed to be an hour as they were flying to find the dark wizard known as Babidi. "Vegeta right? Tell me, are there any more like you and Goku? Saiyans I think you called it." Thomas asked, finally breaking the silence. Vegeta slowed down almost to a complete stop.

"Kakkarot and I are the last pure blood of our race. We each have children which are half Saiyan- half Earthling. Now if you're done with the questions we can hurry up and end this little journey." Vegeta said with the same angered voice he had on the tower.

"He's stronger than you isn't he?" Thomas muttered.

"What was that?" Vegeta replied clenching his fist in Thomas's face.

The two stared each other down for a moment. "Goku or Kakka- kakaa- carrot top whatever you called him. He's stronger than you isn't he?" Thomas said once more, as he could see Vegeta's anger rising.

"You idiotic fuck! I am Vegeta! Prince of all Saiyans! Kakkarot is a clown; he only wishes his power would rival my own". Vegeta cried as his aura began to flare up, Thomas noticed this and the aura of his keyblades began to swarm around his hands.

"Then why did he talk down to you earlier? Almost like you were nothing to him." Thomas continued egging him on, fueling his anger. "Why from where I'm standing you don't look that powerful at all. I'm sure that I could take you wi-"Vegeta disappeared from sight. Thomas extended his hands to summon his keyblades, just as his hands began to glow; Vegeta appeared out the corner of his eye.

As Vegeta cocked his arm back for a haymaker, in that brief moment Thomas noticed that golden aura appear around him again as it did on the lookout. He also noticed his eyes turn from black to a greenish blue color. Vegeta's punch then connected and sent Thomas flying down in a spiral towards the ground where he then crashed and created a crater. "Okay ow. What the fuck? How am I not dead?" Thomas questioned as he stood up rubbing his face. He then summoned his keyblades, looking up to see Vegeta descending down towards him with his arms folded.

"You're not dead because I barely put any power into that one. That should teach you to mock me boy." Vegeta said with a smirk on his face with that golden aura around him.

"Wha- barely any power…geez I can only imagine the beatings his kid gets when he acts up." Thomas muttered to himself. "What's with the gold aura and the fact that you became a blonde in a split second… and are those colored contacts... Gay."

"What you see before you is the most powerful transformation in the universe, this is a Super Saiyan. And I, Prince Vegeta am the strongest there is in the universe!" He proclaimed.

"I'm not sure if it's healthy to talk in the third person as much as you do. But enough of that back to the fighting!" Thomas said as he charged for Vegeta and began swinging his keyblades at him; Vegeta began dodging them effortlessly, barely moving and still keeping his arms folded. "Aw c'mon that's just not right! Wait I got it!" Thomas said as he jumped back lifted his Chaos Star keyblade into the air. "Dimension blade!" He cried as he slashed down, ripping a hole in dimension then jumping through it. Vegeta seemed unimpressed with his facial expression barely changing. He closed his eyes, as he awaited Thomas's attack. Thomas opened up the rip right above Vegeta, as he was falling preparing to strike, Vegeta lifted his arms and opened his hands, pointing both of his palms at Thomas as they began to glow bright yellow. "Oh fuck." Thomas said as he was blasted in the face and back into the portal he was coming out of, and out of the original one he went into. "Okay! I'm not sure how that's physically possible, but okay." Thomas said as he sat up and realized his Shattered Dreams keyblade began to glow, in one of the shards of the blade it showed when Vegeta transformed into super Saiyan. Thomas' eyes began to glow while staring at it.

"Are you done yet? Can we end this now and get back to the fucking task at ha-"Vegeta began to say until he felt a cold sweat run down the back of his neck. "Whe-where is this power coming from, it feels just like mine yet different." He turned to see the golden aura flowing around Thomas. "H-how is this possible? You're not a Saiyan… Are you?"

"I don't think so, but I've got the power of one now." Thomas said with a smirk as he looked up at Vegeta, his eyes now the same color as his, but his hair remained the same black.

Thomas began to hover off the ground before charging for Vegeta. "Enough!" A small voice cried out, Thomas paused in mid-flight and turned to see a yellow-green bug with an elongated head, and bulgy eyes in a somewhat robe.

"GIANT TALKING CRICKET!" Thomas cried as he prepared to throw his keyblade at him.

"Wait you idiot!" Vegeta said finally snapping out of his awe. "That's the wizard Babidi."

"Ah I see you've remembered me Vegeta." Babidi said with a smile as he took a bow. Vegeta looked annoyed as ever as he raised his hand and pointed it at Babidi.

"What say we end this now and get back to our lives already bug?"

"B-but Vegeta wouldn't you like one more chance to prove you really are stronger than Goku?" Babidi offered with a devilish grin. Vegeta lowered his hand.

"You're not gonna listen to this fucking cricket are you Vegeta?" Thomas questioned as Babidi turned his attention towards him.

"And you there, wouldn't you be interested In knowing it was me all along pushing both your buttons and setting up that little skirmish." Thomas sighed and decided to hear the evil wizard out. "Mmm I can feel darkness in you too boy, how about I give you both the power you desire? Vegeta can go and defeat Goku, now that I see Saiyans are capable of going beyond a level than super Saiyan 2. And I give you the power to defeat the one your heart yearns to fight eh?" He said as he could see the expressions of the two become more willing. They both nodded as Babidi placed his spell upon the two. Both Thomas and Vegeta began to cry out in agony as this new power overwhelmed them, Vegeta's hair began to grow longer as lightning began to form around him as it did Thomas. They both stood up from their transformation; Vegeta now with a dark "M" on his forehead instantly flew off in search of Goku. Thomas with the same "M" on his forehead remained with Babidi for a moment. "Now Thomas who is the one your heart is yearning to fight?" Babidi questioned as Thomas looked up towards the direction the lookout was at, as the "M" on his forehead began transform into what appeared to be an "A" with a circle around it. "Hmm that's odd, what does that mean?" Babidi asked as he looked up at Thomas.

"Anarchy." Thomas replied as he stabbed Babidi with his shattered dreams keyblade. "I'll absorb some of your energy to make sure Vegeta stays in his Majin form." Thomas replied as he took his keyblade out of the wizard's chest and flew towards the lookout.

"There we go, it's finished. We just need to get some test subjects, and we should be able to freely enter in and out as many times as we want, with as many people as we want. After they've been in for twenty-four hours, there will just be a week waiting period before you can re enter. In theory at least." Bulma explained with a grin. She was quite proud of her work.

"He's back." Darryl looked to see Thomas walking towards him. Darryl decided to meet him outside to tell him the good news, and to explain that he knew about his darkness. But he stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Thomas walking toward him; keyblades drawn and a weird symbol on his head that looked like a mix between an "A" and an "O". Thomas lunged at Darryl, who quickly jumped back to escape the blow.

"Fight me! Here and now, no interruptions. No one to stop us."

"What are you talking about, Thomas I don't want to f-"

"Shut up! I can feel it just as well as you can. You've always wanted this. To see if you could knock the darkness out of me. To test the strength of our bond. To see if you are as strong as you need to be to protect everyone. Purify me Darryl! Let's see the strength of your soul!"

"Is Babidi controlling you?" Darryl summoned his keyblade in a swirl of water. Thomas was right. He did want this. It was the only way he could think of to save Thomas from himself.

"Please. You can't control Anarchy." Thomas threw his Chaos Star keyblade and was right upon Darryl as he dodged it. Thinking quickly, Darryl kicked his massive keyblade at Thomas and back flipped out of the way. As the two regained their keyblades, they became locked in a furious battle. Thomas struck Darryl more times than Thomas was struck, but Darryl's strikes held more power.

"You don't have to do everything alone!" Darryl shot Thomas with a beam of water that Thomas proceeded to split in half.

"You could never understand that I do! You, a prince born with everything would never understand what it's like to be born into nothing!" Thomas struck Darryl hard on both sides of his torso. "To have to strive for everything!" Thomas sent Darryl sliding across the ground. "To be a commoner!" Thomas charged after the recovering Darryl. "But that's where Anarchy comes in. Everyone has to strive for everything. No one runs the city because everyone runs the city. No rules, no inhibitions, only survival." Thomas got right next to Darryl, and suddenly his eyes shifted to a blue-green color and he gained a bright, yellow flame aura. "The wheels of fate are turning! Will you survive?" Thomas landed a powerful, Super command style enhanced blow that knocked Darryl into a pillar and out of sight. "Get back up! You aren't that weak." Thomas was met with a torrent of water shots that were launched from Darryl's safe location.

"Water Herald!" Darryl unleashed his Water Herald command style to combat Thomas' Super command style. Thomas flew at Darryl, whom was surfing on water to meet him. Thomas strikes caused a small flare of his aura to hit Darryl, while Darryl's strikes carried a wave of water with them. The two fought like animals. No dodging. No blocking. Just striking one another; their command styles getting stronger and stronger with each blow.

"Let's finish with this!" Thomas jumped back and held both of his keyblades out to his side. Two large, energy balls formed at the tip of each keyblade, and he then slammed his weapons parallel to one another and proceeded to thrust them forward. "Lion's Final Flash!" Thomas shot out a massive, yellow beam that had a Lion's head and slammed into Darryl; propelling him into the sky. When the attack ended, Darryl began dropping towards the ground.

"Tsunami Wave Train!" Darryl began spinning in mid air as water rushed near his bloodied body. "Bigger!" The wave grew in size. "Bigger! Bigger!" The wave towered over Darryl, and he sent it flying towards Thomas and hit him with a furious power. When the attack ended, Darryl and Thomas both looked battle-worn and were staring each other down. "Have you woken up yet?" Between pants, Darryl managed to ask.

"This is the first time I've been truly awake. Let me show you the power of my determination." Thomas was engulfed in crimson light. When it faded, Thomas had taken on a different appearance. His entire body was glowing red, with his hair slightly standing up. His eyes were white with no pupils and the symbol on his head had been glowing white instead of black. Silver, broken chains were wrapped around his arms and legs. "Anarchy Drive form!" Darryl could tell he was in trouble. A drive form that sacrificed magic for a huge boost in physical abilities and access to dark and fire magic could be trouble. The only upside was that he was cut off from other magic and he had weaker defenses. And suddenly, he was beside Darryl.

"Too fast..." Darryl barely had time to finish his sentence.

"Know terror." Thomas' attack nearly knocked Darryl unconscious; propelling across the floor with the grace of a rag doll.

"Fine." Once Darryl recovered, he went down on all fours. "The power of my loyalty." Thomas rushed towards Darryl, but was knocked back when a bolt of lightning struck his opponent. Darryl let out a fierce roar, while he was in his new form. His clothes were white with black stripes, as was his hair, and his eyes were golden with tiger slits. His Tiger Drive form was fast enough to keep up with Thomas but his power was lowered a bit. His powerful lightning magic and long combos would hopefully make up for it though. He no longer held his keyblade, but rather it floated behind him like a tail. "Come at me!"

Thomas charged for Darryl, using his new speed, which Darryl was keeping up with in his new drive form; the two clashed, matching attack for attack. Thomas, with a little more power to his, was staggering Darryl more. "Do you feel it Darryl? Do you feel the anarchy growing inside yourself? Is it corrupting you yet?" Thomas questioned while he attacked, kicking Darryl into a wall.

"No, I'm loyal to our friendship, Thomas; I will save you from your own darkness. It's not too late Thomas." Darryl cried out as he flipped off the wall and went back on the offensive. "Lunar Storm!" Darryl cried as his keyblade shot spheres of light right above and around Thomas. Each then shot out barrages of lightning. Thomas began bobbing and weaving between the blasts.

"You're gonna have to do better than that prince." He said with a smirk, letting his guard down and being struck by the lightning spheres. Albeit they only seemed to slightly affect him. Darryl looked upon Thomas from a ledge as he waited for the smoke to clear but to his surprise, Thomas was gone. He began scanning the area, keeping his guard up the entire time.

"Thomas let's end this."

"Let's!" Thomas's voice echoed around Darryl.

"Show yourself!" Darryl cried out to Thomas, still unaware of his location.

"Your wish is my command, prince. Lion's Assault: Anarchist wave!" Thomas yelled as the ledge that Darryl was upon exploded with crimson energy, launching Darryl into the air as Thomas appeared from the rubble, darting towards Darryl, and preceded to hit him with a 10 hit combo before knocking him towards the ground. "Do you see the difference in our power Darryl? Your so called light you keep trying to shine on me, to save me from myself appears to be snuffing out. Accept anarchy, embrace anarchy." Thomas said, while Darryl, still plummeting towards the ground regained his composure and stopped himself before collision. The two hovered in the air with their eyes locked. Darryl stood up and his drive form released, he was now holding his keyblade regularly now.

"I'll never embrace it, we're friends Thomas. You're like my brother… Does this mean nothing to you?"

"Brothers?" Thomas repeated with confusion in his voice. "N-No, I don't need you or any of the rest of them. I'm the strongest! I'll prove it! You can't possibly expect to win, let alone survive this fight without one of your drive forms." Thomas said with anger pointing his keyblade towards Darryl. He simply remained still, staring up at him, gripping his keyblade even tighter. "Transform now and finish this fight Darryl! This has to happen; this fight has been sparked since the moment we met. Let's truly see which of us is better." He said, yet Darryl still remained silent and motionless, only staring. "Answer me! Fucking answer me!" Thomas cried as he spread his arms apart, holding his keyblades then slammed them together. A light blinded them both; Darryl trying to shield his eyes with his arms. The light faded and he looked upon Thomas in awe. "This… this will be what I use to defeat you. This keyblade will end it all." Thomas said admiring his new keyblade, The keyblade was a black combination of both his Chaos Star and Shattered Dreams, the stained glass on shattered dreams now held images of stars and exploding stars, the end of the blade was a crimson red star with black cracks in it, the hilt appeared to made up of nothing but stars; a small nebula. "I call it, Harbinger. For it shall bring in your defeat and everyone else that stands in my way. Now Darryl, do you still see me as a brother? If so then know this, one brother is leaving this battle." Thomas said as his golden aura became infused with crimson as he stare at Darryl with a devilish grin.

"Thomas, please! Don't do this!" Darryl could barely get the words out before Thomas vanished from sight. "_Where..."_ Darryl's thoughts explored every possible angle of attack that Thomas could utilize, before settling on the fact that Thomas would come from behind. In response, he began to summon water to rush towards him, but he was too late. Thomas was upon him just as the water formed a barrier around him, and knocked Darryl back several feet.

"Where are you looking?" Darryl slid to a stop, only to hear Thomas' voice whisper in his ear. His new form had given him a massive speed boost, along with the newfound power of his keyblade made him a force to reckon with. "Harbinger of the Apocalypse: Pestilence." An orb of Darkness slammed into Darryl's back from Thomas' new keyblade and propelled him across the battlefield and into a nearby tree. Oddly enough, even though the orb had disappeared, he still was feeling the pain of the blow. "You like? That pain will stay with you for a while...like a sickness." Darryl couldn't even stand because the pain was too intense.

"I've failed you Thomas...I think I'm at my wits end." Darryl beat his fist into the ground in tears. His eyes turned crimson as his tears slowly began to dry; the whites of his eyes turning black and he became consumed with a dark aura. And then he shifted to his Demon drive form. "You know something, Thomas." Thomas tilted his head in confusion at his rival's newfound power. It radiated an evil that was not unlike Thomas' own current evil; even his voice sounded consumed with darkness. "Fuck the light." It was Thomas' turn to be surprise attacked as Darryl shifted into the ground and became a shadow; appearing behind him and tapped Thomas on the shoulder so he'd turn. "Amaterasu." Darryl's attacked hit Thomas square in the chest and turned him into a black fireball of death that flew into a tree. If it wasn't for Thomas' resistance to dark and fire techniques, he would still be ablaze.

"Now we're getting somewhere! Doesn't it feel good? To feel the sweet embrace of mother Nyx? To relish in the killing intent that naturally resides in all of us?" Thomas swung his keyblade in a circle.

"Shut up." Darryl had traveled in the shadows and appeared behind Thomas, but he was ready this time. He whipped around to block the move and locked their keyblades together.

"Make me." Thomas etched a grin upon his face, which Darryl returned. "Dark..." Thomas jumped back out of the stalemate.

"Shadow..." Darryl's keyblade glowed and his own shadow began to lift off the ground.

"...Ragnarok!" Thomas charged at Darryl and began slashing his keyblade at Darryl.

"...dance!" Darryl swung his keyblade, while the shadows began to block the strikes from Thomas' barrage. The two blades finally met with an explosion of dark energy that blew both of them to opposite sides of the arena. _"What am I doing...I can't face Thomas like this. I'm encouraging his darkness instead of restraining it. Focus Darryl...focus." _Darryl emerged from the rubble, back to his normal self.

"What is this? Giving up already?" Thomas looked almost disappointed that Darryl had returned to normal. "You're so pathetic, it bores me. Why do you keep running from this fight?"

"Running?" Darryl gripped his keyblade tight. "No, I won't quit. I won't run. Even if I have to destroy my body in the process, I will save you Thomas." A light from the sky blasted down at Darryl as he transformed into his Angel drive form. Thomas simply rolled his eyes.

"You're getting on my nerves with your idealistic shit. I don't need to be saved. I'm not one of your subjects. Spare me the lectures, I'd rather you just curl over and die." Darryl interrupted Thomas from talking any further by teleporting beside him.

"Lig-" Thomas flung his right hand over Darryl's mouth and gripped tight.

"Harbinger of the Apocalypse: Famine." Thomas began sucking energy from Darryl to use as his own. His plan backfired however; Darryl's pure light drive energy actually damaged his body rather than healing it. "Son of a b-" When Thomas released Darryl to escape the pain; he was hit with a beam of light in the torso.

"Halo Wave!" Not wasting any time, Darryl aimed his keyblade at the recovering Thomas and a halo of light formed around his keyblade.

"No you don't!" Thomas managed to recover and charge at Darryl before he could pull the move off. "Harbinger of the Apocalypse: War!" Thomas unleashed a vicious combo, slamming into Darryl with his keyblade at least twice in every limb and his torso, before finishing the move with a swipe that exploded in Darryl's face. If he didn't use the aura from his Angel Drive wings to block the attack at the last minute, he probably would be missing a limb right now.

"Halo Wave, fire!" Despite the onslaught of attacks, Darryl didn't release the energy from the attack he charged up and because of that he was able to catch Thomas off guard. He was consumed with a large wave of light that exposed Thomas to constant light energy; the weakness of any form centered on darkness.

"That the best you got?" Thomas sprung to his feet, injured but still able to fight. His drive form got stronger the longer the fight dragged on against the same opponent, so it was perfect for situations such as this.

"_Damn. I can't win like this. I've only got one option at this point...but can I do it? With so little energy left, and its such a big risk. Unless I let him..." _Darryl had reached a conclusion in his own head. He knew how to end the battle. Meanwhile, Thomas had been charging up his energy for an attack that seemed to be powerful. But Darryl remained unraveled. Everything seemed to move in slow motion for him. He watched Thomas charge him. He watched Thomas get right up on him. "Harbinger of the Apocalypse: Death!" He tapped Darryl's heart, head, and throat with his keyblade and each formed a head of Cerberus upon them; infused with dark energy. Darryl's smiled brought a look of confusion upon Thomas' face. He had let that attack hit him. But surely he knew...he knew what that would bring.

"Celestial Deliverance!" Darryl placed a hand over Thomas' heart and poured all of the light energy he could into it. He poured his very spirit into his heart, which traveled into the depths of Thomas' own soul. Thomas' soul was caged in by darkness, looking frail and emasculated. He had lost the fight to the darkness, and needed to be saved. Darryl's own soul destroyed the cage that held Thomas' soul and extended a hand towards it. "I'm here. I told you I'd come get you." Thomas soul touched Darryl's and it instantly became engulfed in a warming light.

"What?" Thomas' body had returned to his base form, as did Darryl's. "You saved me..." Thomas quickly began panicking when he saw the marks of Cerberus didn't fade. "Darryl! Why did you take that attack?! You could have moved! Or counteratta-"

"It was the only way." Darryl had been smiling the whole time. "I told you, I'd gladly give my life to save yours. But I guess this is goodbye for me. Protect everyone, okay? Don't let me die in vain." Thomas reached out for Darryl, but the marks of Cerberus began to glow a bright red, before they caused Darryl's heart, head, and throat be skewered by numerous spears of darkness. He fell limp and towards Thomas' arms, which were extended out to catch him, before his body faded away. Thomas had been brought back from the darkness, at the cost of Darryl's life.


End file.
